diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e35a9a9..908c80d 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
     <groupId>org.sadtech.autoresponder</groupId>
     <artifactId>autoresponder</artifactId>
-    <version>1.9.3-RELEASE</version>
+    <version>1.9.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
 
     <name>Abstract Autoresponder</name>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/sadtech/autoresponder/AutoResponder.java b/src/main/java/org/sadtech/autoresponder/AutoResponder.java
index 1f2c15c..8fd61b2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/sadtech/autoresponder/AutoResponder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/sadtech/autoresponder/AutoResponder.java
@@ -53,7 +53,12 @@ public class AutoResponder<U extends Unit> {
     public Optional<U> answer(@NonNull Long entityId, @NonNull String message) {
         Optional<UnitPointer<U>> unitPointer = unitPointerService.getByEntityId(entityId);
         final Optional<U> answer = nextUnit(
-                unitPointer.isPresent() ? unitPointer.get().getUnit().getNextUnits() : startUnits, message
+                unitPointer.isPresent()
+                        && unitPointer.get().getUnit().getNextUnits() != null
+                        && !unitPointer.get().getUnit().getNextUnits().isEmpty()
+                        ? unitPointer.get().getUnit().getNextUnits()
+                        : startUnits,
+                message
         );
         if (answer.isPresent()) {
             final U unitAnswer = answer.get();