diff --git a/twitterwidgets.py b/twitterwidgets.py
index da849dc..2077dd8 100644
--- a/twitterwidgets.py
+++ b/twitterwidgets.py
@@ -75,7 +75,10 @@ class TweetPane(gtk.ScrolledWindow):
 
         # If this is our first load of this list, don't treat anything as new!
         if self.last_tweet_read is None:
-            self.last_tweet_read = statuses[0].id
+            try:
+                self.last_tweet_read = statuses[0].id
+            except IndexError:
+                self.last_tweet_read = 0
 
         # Keep count of the new tweets for posting a status message
         self.num_new_tweets = 0
@@ -90,7 +93,10 @@ class TweetPane(gtk.ScrolledWindow):
             else:
                 self.tweets[i].clear_status()
 
-        self.latest_tweet = statuses[0].id
+        try:
+            self.latest_tweet = statuses[0].id
+        except IndexError:
+            self.latest_tweet = 0
 
         self.update_tab_label()