diff -r 3bf958a5e352 -r c0dd11a3254c src/protocols/irc/msgs.c
--- a/src/protocols/irc/msgs.c	Mon Apr 17 00:17:00 2006 +0000
+++ b/src/protocols/irc/msgs.c	Mon Apr 17 14:01:11 2006 +0000
@@ -297,12 +297,6 @@
 	char *chan, *topic, *msg, *nick, *tmp, *tmp2;
 	GaimConversation *convo;
 
-	convo = gaim_find_conversation_with_account(GAIM_CONV_TYPE_CHAT, chan, irc->account);
-	if (!convo) {
-		gaim_debug(GAIM_DEBUG_ERROR, "irc", "Got a topic for %s, which doesn't exist\n", chan);
-		return;
-	}
-
 	if (!strcmp(name, "topic")) {
 		chan = args[0];
 		topic = irc_mirc2txt (args[1]);
@@ -311,6 +305,13 @@
 		topic = irc_mirc2txt (args[2]);
 	}
 
+	convo = gaim_find_conversation_with_account(GAIM_CONV_TYPE_CHAT, chan, irc->account);
+	if (!convo) {
+		gaim_debug(GAIM_DEBUG_ERROR, "irc", "Got a topic for %s, which doesn't exist\n", chan);
+		g_free(topic);
+		return;
+	}
+
 	/* If this is an interactive update, print it out */
 	tmp = g_markup_escape_text(topic, -1);
 	tmp2 = gaim_markup_linkify(tmp);