diff --git a/changelog.d/9023.bugfix b/changelog.d/9023.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..deae64d9336e778b82861769fa7a39df9fa9d41b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/9023.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix a longstanding issue where an internal server error would occur when requesting a profile over federation that did not include a display name / avatar URL.
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/profile.py b/synapse/handlers/profile.py
index dee0ef45e72430774544a14a4b53aacb39fc3534..36f9ee4b71ad2f60189e7191a0175eaee0350b4f 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/profile.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/profile.py
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ class ProfileHandler(BaseHandler):
             except HttpResponseException as e:
                 raise e.to_synapse_error()
 
-            return result["displayname"]
+            return result.get("displayname")
 
     async def set_displayname(
         self,
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ class ProfileHandler(BaseHandler):
             except HttpResponseException as e:
                 raise e.to_synapse_error()
 
-            return result["avatar_url"]
+            return result.get("avatar_url")
 
     async def set_avatar_url(
         self,