diff --git a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractMentions.js b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractIds/index.js
similarity index 93%
rename from backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractMentions.js
rename to backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractIds/index.js
index f2b28444f..d5b1823f2 100644
--- a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractMentions.js
+++ b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractIds/index.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import cheerio from 'cheerio'
 const ID_REGEX = /\/profile\/([\w\-.!~*'"(),]+)/g
 
 export default function (content) {
+  if (!content) return []
   const $ = cheerio.load(content)
   const urls = $('.mention').map((_, el) => {
     return $(el).attr('href')
diff --git a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractMentions.spec.js b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractIds/spec.js
similarity index 93%
rename from backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractMentions.spec.js
rename to backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractIds/spec.js
index 625b1d8fe..73c0ce0a1 100644
--- a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractMentions.spec.js
+++ b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractIds/spec.js
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
-import extractIds from './extractMentions'
+import extractIds from '.'
+
+describe('extractIds', () => {
+  describe('content undefined', () => {
+    it('returns empty array', () => {
+      expect(extractIds()).toEqual([])
+    })
+  })
 
-describe('extract', () => {
   describe('searches through links', () => {
     it('ignores links without .mention class', () => {
       const content = '<p>Something inspirational about <a href="/profile/u2" target="_blank">@bob-der-baumeister</a> and <a href="/profile/u3" target="_blank">@jenny-rostock</a>.</p>'
diff --git a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/index.js b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/index.js
index 942eb588d..65cebe253 100644
--- a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/index.js
+++ b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/index.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import extractIds from './extractMentions'
+import extractIds from './extractIds'
 
 const notify = async (resolve, root, args, context, resolveInfo) => {
   // extract user ids before xss-middleware removes link classes