diff --git a/mycroft/messagebus/message.py b/mycroft/messagebus/message.py
index dfe6a5fe0a..159086297b 100644
--- a/mycroft/messagebus/message.py
+++ b/mycroft/messagebus/message.py
@@ -159,5 +159,5 @@ class Message(object):
         utt = self.data.get("utterance", None)
         if utt and "__tags__" in self.data:
             for token in self.data["__tags__"]:
-                utt = utt.replace(token["key"], "")
+                utt = utt.replace(token.get("key", ""), "")
         return normalize(utt)