diff --git a/zerver/lib/bugdown/__init__.py b/zerver/lib/bugdown/__init__.py
index 10c4cec901..bdc8dd6f7c 100644
--- a/zerver/lib/bugdown/__init__.py
+++ b/zerver/lib/bugdown/__init__.py
@@ -82,6 +82,12 @@ def fetch_tweet_data(tweet_id):
         import testing_mocks
         res = testing_mocks.twitter(tweet_id)
     else:
+        if settings.TWITTER_CONSUMER_KEY == '' or \
+           settings.TWITTER_CONSUMER_SECRET == '' or \
+           settings.TWITTER_ACCESS_TOKEN_KEY == '' or \
+           settings.TWITTER_ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET == '':
+           return None
+
         api = twitter.Api(consumer_key = settings.TWITTER_CONSUMER_KEY,
                           consumer_secret = settings.TWITTER_CONSUMER_SECRET,
                           access_token_key = settings.TWITTER_ACCESS_TOKEN_KEY,