diff --git a/cardinal/test_util.py b/cardinal/test_util.py
index 4f81bf3..c494508 100644
--- a/cardinal/test_util.py
+++ b/cardinal/test_util.py
@@ -7,6 +7,33 @@
 from cardinal import util
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('message,expected', (
+    ('\x01ACTION tests\x01', True),
+    ('\x01ACTION tests', True),
+    ('\x01ACTION', True),
+    ('ACTION tests', False),
+))
+def test_is_action(message, expected):
+    assert util.is_action(message) == expected
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('nick,message,expected', (
+    ('Cardinal', '\x01ACTION tests\x01', '* Cardinal tests'),
+    ('Cardinal', '\x01ACTION tests', '* Cardinal tests'),
+    ('Cardinal', '\x01ACTION \x01', '* Cardinal'),
+    ('Cardinal', '\x01ACTION ', '* Cardinal'),
+    ('Cardinal', '\x01ACTION\x01', '* Cardinal'),
+    ('Cardinal', '\x01ACTION', '* Cardinal'),
+))
+def test_parse_action(nick, message, expected):
+    assert util.parse_action(nick, message) == expected
+
+
+def test_parse_action_raises():
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        util.parse_action('Cardinal', 'this is not an action!')
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("input_,expected", (
     ('\x02bold\x02', 'bold'),
     ('\x0309colored\x03', 'colored'),
diff --git a/cardinal/util.py b/cardinal/util.py
index 612ca45..c2ac8cf 100644
--- a/cardinal/util.py
+++ b/cardinal/util.py
@@ -19,12 +19,12 @@ def parse_action(nick, message):
         raise ValueError("This message is not an ACTION message")
 
     message = message[len("\x01ACTION "):]
-    if message[-1] == "\x01":
+    if message and message[-1] == "\x01":
         message = message[:-1]
 
-    return "* {} {}".format(
+    return "* {}{}".format(
         nick,
-        message,
+        " " + message if message else "",
     )
 
 
@@ -111,5 +111,6 @@ def light_grey(text):
 
     reset = "\x03"
 
+
 # alias as this will be used commonly
 F = formatting