diff --git a/src/util/entities/Channel.ts b/src/util/entities/Channel.ts
index 1fa552b24..611351aa4 100644
--- a/src/util/entities/Channel.ts
+++ b/src/util/entities/Channel.ts
@@ -704,6 +704,12 @@ export class Channel extends BaseClass {
     }
 
     toJSON(): PublicChannel {
+        // needed as some CHANNEL_UPDATE event doesn't call the calculatePosition function and doesn't populate
+        // the position field. Needs to be looked into more
+        // TODO: Look into when this can be undefined during CHANNEL_UPDATE
+        if (this.position === undefined) {
+            this.position = 0;
+        }
         return {
             ...this,
             last_pin_timestamp: this.last_pin_timestamp?.toISOString(),