diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
index 9364019..dc74072 100755
--- a/start.sh
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -210,6 +210,11 @@ do
     [ "$NICK" == "$BOTNICK" ] \
         && continue
 
+    # if we still have no nick here, we better stop to prevent excuting
+    # events from non-users (actions, IRC events etc...)
+    [ -z "$NICK" ] \
+        && continue
+
     COMMAND=$(echo "$line" \
                 | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' \
                 | sed -n 's|.*\(![a-z]*\).*|\1|p')