diff --git a/lib/shared/farcaster/farcaster-hooks.js b/lib/shared/farcaster/farcaster-hooks.js
--- a/lib/shared/farcaster/farcaster-hooks.js
+++ b/lib/shared/farcaster/farcaster-hooks.js
@@ -1289,6 +1289,7 @@
   const threadInfos = useSelector(state => state.threadStore.threadInfos);
   const { addLog } = useDebugLogs();
   const currentUserSupportsDCs = useCurrentUserSupportsDCs();
+  const farcasterDCsLoaded = useFarcasterDCsLoaded();
 
   return React.useCallback(
     async (farcasterMessage: FarcasterMessage) => {
@@ -1306,8 +1307,19 @@
           farcasterMessage.conversationId,
         )
       ) {
-        await fetchConversation(farcasterMessage, true);
-        return;
+        if (farcasterDCsLoaded) {
+          // If DCs have already been synced, then this missing conversation is
+          // unexpected, and we should fetch all messages for it. No need to
+          // proceed afterwards since this message will be fetched below
+          await fetchConversation(farcasterMessage, true);
+          return;
+        } else {
+          // If DCs aren't fully synced yet, there's a possibility that this
+          // message will be skipped if we don't process it now. We fetch the
+          // conversation so the reducers don't immediately filter the message
+          // out, and then we proceed to process this particular message
+          await fetchConversation(farcasterMessage, false);
+        }
       }
 
       const userFIDs = extractFarcasterIDsFromPayload(
@@ -1376,6 +1388,7 @@
       threadInfos,
       viewerID,
       currentUserSupportsDCs,
+      farcasterDCsLoaded,
     ],
   );
 }
@@ -1548,6 +1561,7 @@
   const fetchConversationWithBatching = useFetchConversationWithBatching();
   const { addLog } = useDebugLogs();
   const currentUserSupportsDCs = useCurrentUserSupportsDCs();
+  const farcasterDCsLoaded = useFarcasterDCsLoaded();
 
   return React.useCallback(
     async (
@@ -1591,7 +1605,7 @@
           }
         }
 
-        if (unknownConversationIds.length > 0) {
+        if (farcasterDCsLoaded && unknownConversationIds.length > 0) {
           await processInBatchesWithReduxBatching(
             unknownConversationIds,
             FARCASTER_DATA_BATCH_SIZE,
@@ -1627,6 +1641,7 @@
     },
     [
       currentUserSupportsDCs,
+      farcasterDCsLoaded,
       addLog,
       dispatch,
       fetchConversationWithBatching,