diff --git a/Pods b/Pods
index 1d4d7b782..fe9ed184d 160000
--- a/Pods
+++ b/Pods
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 1d4d7b782a10e903551407c77351bf11a37d342d
+Subproject commit fe9ed184d129f85e10cdfe12e41c0cde9822e401
diff --git a/SignalServiceKit/src/Loki/Messaging/SSKProtoEnvelope+Loki.swift b/SignalServiceKit/src/Loki/Messaging/SSKProtoEnvelope+Loki.swift
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..218e5a3f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/SignalServiceKit/src/Loki/Messaging/SSKProtoEnvelope+Loki.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+@objc public extension SSKProtoEnvelope {
+    
+    @objc public var isGroupChatMessage: Bool {
+        do {
+            let contentProto = try SSKProtoContent.parseData(self.content!)
+            return contentProto.dataMessage!.group != nil
+        } catch {
+            return false
+        }
+        
+        return true;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/SignalServiceKit/src/Messages/OWSMessageManager.m b/SignalServiceKit/src/Messages/OWSMessageManager.m
index e3bfc67c5..06f00a91b 100644
--- a/SignalServiceKit/src/Messages/OWSMessageManager.m
+++ b/SignalServiceKit/src/Messages/OWSMessageManager.m
@@ -1386,9 +1386,8 @@ NS_ASSUME_NONNULL_BEGIN
                     [pointer saveWithTransaction:transaction];
                     [incomingMessage.attachmentIds addObject:pointer.uniqueId];
                 }
-
-                // Loki: Do this before the check below
-                [self handleFriendRequestMessageIfNeededWithEnvelope:envelope message:incomingMessage thread:oldGroupThread transaction:transaction];
+                
+                // Loki: Don't process friend requests in the group chats
                 
                 if (body.length == 0 && attachmentPointers.count < 1 && !contact) {
                     OWSLogWarn(@"ignoring empty incoming message from: %@ for group: %@ with timestamp: %lu",
@@ -1528,8 +1527,8 @@ NS_ASSUME_NONNULL_BEGIN
 // The difference between this function and `handleFriendRequestAcceptIfNeededWithEnvelope:` is that this will setup the incoming message for display to the user
 // While `handleFriendRequestAcceptIfNeededWithEnvelope:` handles friend request accepting logic and doesn't need a message
 - (void)handleFriendRequestMessageIfNeededWithEnvelope:(SSKProtoEnvelope *)envelope message:(TSIncomingMessage *)message thread:(TSThread *)thread transaction:(YapDatabaseReadWriteTransaction *)transaction {
-    // Check if it's a friend request message
-    if (envelope.type != SSKProtoEnvelopeTypeFriendRequest) return;
+    // Check if it's a friend request message and make sure it's not a group message
+    if (envelope.isGroupChatMessage || envelope.type != SSKProtoEnvelopeTypeFriendRequest) return;
     
     if (thread.hasCurrentUserSentFriendRequest) {
         // This can happen if Alice sent Bob a friend request, Bob declined, but then Bob changed his
@@ -1564,13 +1563,14 @@ NS_ASSUME_NONNULL_BEGIN
 - (void)handleFriendRequestAcceptIfNeededWithEnvelope:(SSKProtoEnvelope *)envelope transaction:(YapDatabaseReadWriteTransaction *)transaction {
     // If we get any other envelope type then we can assume that we had to use signal cipher decryption
     // and that means we must have a session with the other person.
-    if (envelope.type == SSKProtoEnvelopeTypeFriendRequest) return;
+    // We also need to ensure that we're contacting the person directly and not through a public chat
+    if (envelope.isGroupChatMessage || envelope.type == SSKProtoEnvelopeTypeFriendRequest) return;
     
     // If we're already friends then there's no point in continuing
     // TODO: We'll need to fix this up if we ever start using Sync messages
     // Currently it'll use `envelope.source` but with sync messages we need to use the message sender id
     TSContactThread *thread = [TSContactThread getOrCreateThreadWithContactId:envelope.source transaction:transaction];
-    if (thread.isContactFriend) return;
+    if (thread.isContactFriend || thread.friendRequestStatus == LKThreadFriendRequestStatusNone) return;
     
     // Become happy friends and go on great adventures
     [thread saveFriendRequestStatus:LKThreadFriendRequestStatusFriends withTransaction:transaction];