diff --git a/application/src/main/java/org/togetherjava/tjbot/features/utils/MessageUtils.java b/application/src/main/java/org/togetherjava/tjbot/features/utils/MessageUtils.java
index b5fe69dccf..3788b8465f 100644
--- a/application/src/main/java/org/togetherjava/tjbot/features/utils/MessageUtils.java
+++ b/application/src/main/java/org/togetherjava/tjbot/features/utils/MessageUtils.java
@@ -194,10 +194,6 @@ public static Optional<CodeFence> extractCode(String fullMessage) {
         }
 
         int languageStart = codeFenceStart + CODE_FENCE_SYMBOL.length();
-        int codeFenceEnd = fullMessage.indexOf(CODE_FENCE_SYMBOL, languageStart);
-        if (codeFenceEnd == -1) {
-            return Optional.empty();
-        }
 
         // Language is between ``` and newline, no spaces allowed, like ```java
         // Look for the next newline and then assert no space between
@@ -213,6 +209,11 @@ public static Optional<CodeFence> extractCode(String fullMessage) {
             languageEnd = languageStart;
         }
 
+        int codeFenceEnd = fullMessage.indexOf(CODE_FENCE_SYMBOL, languageEnd);
+        if (codeFenceEnd == -1) {
+            return Optional.empty();
+        }
+
         String code = fullMessage.substring(languageEnd, codeFenceEnd).strip();
 
         return Optional.of(new CodeFence(language, code));
diff --git a/application/src/test/java/org/togetherjava/tjbot/features/utils/MessageUtilsTest.java b/application/src/test/java/org/togetherjava/tjbot/features/utils/MessageUtilsTest.java
index cfaa20a7fb..a9777cab0a 100644
--- a/application/src/test/java/org/togetherjava/tjbot/features/utils/MessageUtilsTest.java
+++ b/application/src/test/java/org/togetherjava/tjbot/features/utils/MessageUtilsTest.java
@@ -247,6 +247,19 @@ fun main() {
 
         tests.add(Arguments.of("small code fence", "Foo `int x = 5` Bar", null));
 
+        tests.add(Arguments.of("six backticks", """
+                ``````test
+                foo```""", new CodeFence("```test", "foo")));
+
+        tests.add(Arguments.of("single line", "```java test```", new CodeFence(null, "java test")));
+
+        tests.add(Arguments.of("space in language", """
+                ```java test
+                test```
+                """, new CodeFence(null, """
+                java test
+                test""")));
+
         return tests;
     }