diff --git a/ts/textsecure.d.ts b/ts/textsecure.d.ts
index ead342ba67ac..9e308a9ca0ad 100644
--- a/ts/textsecure.d.ts
+++ b/ts/textsecure.d.ts
@@ -622,7 +622,7 @@ export declare namespace DataMessageClass {
 
   class Reaction {
     emoji: string | null;
-    remove: boolean | null;
+    remove: boolean;
     targetAuthorE164: string | null;
     targetAuthorUuid: string | null;
     targetTimestamp: ProtoBigNumberType | null;
diff --git a/ts/textsecure/SendMessage.ts b/ts/textsecure/SendMessage.ts
index b0e6857638b9..4a3b8764534d 100644
--- a/ts/textsecure/SendMessage.ts
+++ b/ts/textsecure/SendMessage.ts
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ class Message {
     if (this.reaction) {
       proto.reaction = new window.textsecure.protobuf.DataMessage.Reaction();
       proto.reaction.emoji = this.reaction.emoji || null;
-      proto.reaction.remove = this.reaction.remove || null;
+      proto.reaction.remove = this.reaction.remove || false;
       proto.reaction.targetAuthorE164 = this.reaction.targetAuthorE164 || null;
       proto.reaction.targetAuthorUuid = this.reaction.targetAuthorUuid || null;
       proto.reaction.targetTimestamp = this.reaction.targetTimestamp || null;