diff --git a/toxcore/Messenger.c b/toxcore/Messenger.c
index b97644a5..6e476e6e 100644
--- a/toxcore/Messenger.c
+++ b/toxcore/Messenger.c
@@ -2364,6 +2364,21 @@ struct SAVED_FRIEND {
     uint64_t ping_lastrecv;
 };
 
+/* for backwards compatibility with last version of SAVED_FRIEND.
+   must never be bigger than SAVED_FRIEND. */
+struct SAVED_FRIEND_OLD {
+    uint8_t status;
+    uint8_t client_id[CLIENT_ID_SIZE];
+    uint8_t info[MAX_DATA_SIZE];
+    uint16_t info_size;
+    uint8_t name[MAX_NAME_LENGTH];
+    uint16_t name_length;
+    uint8_t statusmessage[MAX_STATUSMESSAGE_LENGTH];
+    uint16_t statusmessage_length;
+    uint8_t userstatus;
+    uint32_t friendrequest_nospam;
+};
+
 static uint32_t saved_friendslist_size(Messenger *m)
 {
     return count_friendlist(m) * sizeof(struct SAVED_FRIEND);
@@ -2408,15 +2423,24 @@ static uint32_t friends_list_save(Messenger *m, uint8_t *data)
 
 static int friends_list_load(Messenger *m, uint8_t *data, uint32_t length)
 {
-    if (length % sizeof(struct SAVED_FRIEND) != 0)
-        return -1;
+    int old_data = 0;
 
-    uint32_t num = length / sizeof(struct SAVED_FRIEND);
+    if (length % sizeof(struct SAVED_FRIEND) != 0) {
+        if (length % sizeof(struct SAVED_FRIEND_OLD) != 0)
+            return -1;
+
+        old_data = 1;
+    }
+
+    /* if old data file is being used, offset size of current SAVED_FRIEND struct with size of old one */
+    uint32_t diff = old_data ? sizeof(struct SAVED_FRIEND) - sizeof(struct SAVED_FRIEND_OLD) : 0;
+    uint32_t struct_size = sizeof(struct SAVED_FRIEND) - diff;
+    uint32_t num = length / struct_size;
     uint32_t i;
 
     for (i = 0; i < num; ++i) {
         struct SAVED_FRIEND temp;
-        memcpy(&temp, data + i * sizeof(struct SAVED_FRIEND), sizeof(struct SAVED_FRIEND));
+        memcpy(&temp, data + i * struct_size, struct_size);
 
         if (temp.status >= 3) {
             int fnum = m_addfriend_norequest(m, temp.client_id);
@@ -2424,10 +2448,12 @@ static int friends_list_load(Messenger *m, uint8_t *data, uint32_t length)
             set_friend_statusmessage(m, fnum, temp.statusmessage, ntohs(temp.statusmessage_length));
             set_friend_userstatus(m, fnum, temp.userstatus);
 
-            uint8_t lastonline[sizeof(uint64_t)];
-            memcpy(lastonline, &temp.ping_lastrecv, sizeof(uint64_t));
-            net_to_host(lastonline, sizeof(uint64_t));
-            memcpy(&m->friendlist[fnum].ping_lastrecv, lastonline, sizeof(uint64_t));
+            if (!old_data) {
+                uint8_t lastonline[sizeof(uint64_t)];
+                memcpy(lastonline, &temp.ping_lastrecv, sizeof(uint64_t));
+                net_to_host(lastonline, sizeof(uint64_t));
+                memcpy(&m->friendlist[fnum].ping_lastrecv, lastonline, sizeof(uint64_t));
+            }
         } else if (temp.status != 0) {
             /* TODO: This is not a good way to do this. */
             uint8_t address[FRIEND_ADDRESS_SIZE];