diff --git a/Forji/Forji/Services/BackgroundDownloadManager.swift b/Forji/Forji/Services/BackgroundDownloadManager.swift
index 2699203..c7dfd6d 100644
--- a/Forji/Forji/Services/BackgroundDownloadManager.swift
+++ b/Forji/Forji/Services/BackgroundDownloadManager.swift
@@ -87,7 +87,9 @@ final class BackgroundDownloadManager: NSObject, Sendable {
             for: instance.serverURL, username: instance.username,
         ) else { return nil }
 
-        var components = URLComponents(string: "\(instance.serverURL)/api/v1/notifications")!
+        guard var components = URLComponents(string: "\(instance.serverURL)/api/v1/notifications") else {
+            return nil
+        }
         components.queryItems = [
             URLQueryItem(name: "status-types", value: "unread"),
             URLQueryItem(name: "page", value: "1"),