diff --git a/src/ejd2odbc.erl b/src/ejd2odbc.erl
index dba394f9e..43485de28 100644
--- a/src/ejd2odbc.erl
+++ b/src/ejd2odbc.erl
@@ -315,8 +315,14 @@ record_to_string(#roster{usj = {User, _Server, JID},
 	       in	   -> "I";
 	       none	   -> "N"
 	   end,
-    SAskMessage = ejabberd_odbc:escape(
-		    binary_to_list(list_to_binary([AskMessage]))),
+    SAskMessage =
+	case catch ejabberd_odbc:escape(
+		     binary_to_list(list_to_binary([AskMessage]))) of
+	    {'EXIT', _Reason} ->
+		[];
+	    SAM ->
+		SAM
+	end,
     ["("
      "'", Username, "',"
      "'", SJID, "',"