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
@@ -4,11 +4,15 @@
 
 import { useGetLatestMessageEdit } from './latest-message-edit.js';
 import { messageInfoSelector } from '../selectors/chat-selectors.js';
-import { getOldestNonLocalMessageID } from '../shared/message-utils.js';
+import {
+  getOldestNonLocalMessageID,
+  useFetchMessages,
+} from '../shared/message-utils.js';
 import { messageSpecs } from '../shared/messages/message-specs.js';
 import type { MessageInfo } from '../types/message-types.js';
 import type { ThreadInfo } from '../types/minimally-encoded-thread-permissions-types.js';
 import { useSelector } from '../utils/redux-utils.js';
+import sleep from '../utils/sleep.js';
 
 function useOldestMessageServerID(threadID: string): ?string {
   return useSelector(state =>
@@ -107,6 +111,24 @@
     })();
   }, [threadInfo, getMessageInfoForPreview]);
 
+  const shouldFetchOlderMessages =
+    !!messageInfoForPreview?.shouldFetchOlderMessages;
+
+  const [canFetchOlderMessages, setCanFetchOlderMessages] =
+    React.useState(true);
+  const fetchMessages = useFetchMessages(threadInfo);
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    if (!canFetchOlderMessages || !shouldFetchOlderMessages) {
+      return;
+    }
+    setCanFetchOlderMessages(false);
+    void (async () => {
+      await fetchMessages();
+      await sleep(3000);
+      setCanFetchOlderMessages(true);
+    })();
+  }, [canFetchOlderMessages, shouldFetchOlderMessages, fetchMessages]);
+
   return messageInfoForPreview?.messageInfoForPreview;
 }