diff --git a/lib/hooks/message-hooks.js b/lib/hooks/message-hooks.js
--- a/lib/hooks/message-hooks.js
+++ b/lib/hooks/message-hooks.js
@@ -16,9 +16,23 @@
   );
 }
 
+type MessageInfoForPreview = {
+  +messageInfoForPreview: ?MessageInfo,
+  // If showInMessagePreview rejects all of the messages in the local store,
+  // then we'll ignore it and return the most recent message (if there is one)
+  // as messageInfoForPreview. In this case, we'll also set
+  // shouldFetchOlderMessages to tell the caller to fetch more messages.
+  +shouldFetchOlderMessages: boolean,
+};
+
+const emptyMessageInfoForPreview = {
+  messageInfoForPreview: undefined,
+  shouldFetchOlderMessages: false,
+};
+
 function useGetMessageInfoForPreview(): (
   threadInfo: ThreadInfo,
-) => Promise<?MessageInfo> {
+) => Promise<MessageInfoForPreview> {
   const messageInfos = useSelector(messageInfoSelector);
   const messageStore = useSelector(state => state.messageStore);
   const viewerID = useSelector(state => state.currentUserInfo?.id);
@@ -26,53 +40,69 @@
   return React.useCallback(
     async threadInfo => {
       if (!viewerID) {
-        return null;
+        return emptyMessageInfoForPreview;
       }
       const thread = messageStore.threads[threadInfo.id];
       if (!thread) {
-        return null;
+        return emptyMessageInfoForPreview;
       }
       const showInMessagePreviewParams = {
         threadInfo,
         viewerID,
         fetchMessage,
       };
+      let mostRecentMessageInfo;
       for (const messageID of thread.messageIDs) {
         const messageInfo = messageInfos[messageID];
         if (!messageInfo) {
           continue;
         }
+        if (!mostRecentMessageInfo) {
+          mostRecentMessageInfo = messageInfo;
+        }
         const { showInMessagePreview } = messageSpecs[messageInfo.type];
         if (!showInMessagePreview) {
-          return messageInfo;
+          return {
+            messageInfoForPreview: messageInfo,
+            shouldFetchOlderMessages: false,
+          };
         }
         const shouldShow = await showInMessagePreview(
           messageInfo,
           showInMessagePreviewParams,
         );
         if (shouldShow) {
-          return messageInfo;
+          return {
+            messageInfoForPreview: messageInfo,
+            shouldFetchOlderMessages: false,
+          };
         }
       }
-      return null;
+      // If we get here, that means showInMessagePreview rejected all of the
+      // messages in the local store
+      return {
+        messageInfoForPreview: mostRecentMessageInfo,
+        shouldFetchOlderMessages: true,
+      };
     },
     [messageInfos, messageStore, viewerID, fetchMessage],
   );
 }
 
 function useMessageInfoForPreview(threadInfo: ThreadInfo): ?MessageInfo {
-  const [messageInfo, setMessageInfo] = React.useState<?MessageInfo>();
+  const [messageInfoForPreview, setMessageInfoForPreview] =
+    React.useState<?MessageInfoForPreview>();
 
   const getMessageInfoForPreview = useGetMessageInfoForPreview();
   React.useEffect(() => {
     void (async () => {
       const newMessageInfoForPreview =
         await getMessageInfoForPreview(threadInfo);
-      setMessageInfo(newMessageInfoForPreview);
+      setMessageInfoForPreview(newMessageInfoForPreview);
     })();
   }, [threadInfo, getMessageInfoForPreview]);
 
-  return messageInfo;
+  return messageInfoForPreview?.messageInfoForPreview;
 }
 
 export { useOldestMessageServerID, useMessageInfoForPreview };