diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 508ecfd..e26b512 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
     "dev": "next dev",
     "build": "next build",
     "start": "next start",
-    "lint": "eslint"
+    "lint": "eslint",
+    "test": "node --test --experimental-strip-types src/lib/*.test.ts"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@such-software/smirk-dapp-api": "^0.3.0",
diff --git a/src/app/page.tsx b/src/app/page.tsx
index f003f2f..1b49515 100644
--- a/src/app/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/page.tsx
@@ -150,8 +150,8 @@ export default function Home() {
         .then((userData) => {
           setUser({
             id: userData.id,
-            telegram_id: userData.telegram_id,
-            telegram_username: userData.telegram_username,
+            telegram_id: userData.telegram_id ?? null,
+            telegram_username: userData.telegram_username ?? null,
           });
           setStep('logged-in');
         })
diff --git a/src/lib/api.ts b/src/lib/api.ts
index f13f4b5..7d25f7a 100644
--- a/src/lib/api.ts
+++ b/src/lib/api.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { parseUsernameResponse } from './username';
+
 // API client for Smirk backend
 
 const API_URL = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL || 'http://localhost:3000';
@@ -24,9 +26,11 @@ export interface AuthResponse {
 
 export interface MeResponse {
   id: string;
-  username: string | null;
-  telegram_id: number | null;
-  telegram_username: string | null;
+  username?: string | null;
+  /** Legacy backend only; absent on the v0.3 backend. */
+  telegram_id?: number | null;
+  /** Legacy backend only; absent on the v0.3 backend. */
+  telegram_username?: string | null;
 }
 
 export async function getChallenge(origin: string): Promise<ChallengeResponse> {
@@ -353,7 +357,7 @@ export async function getMyUsername(token: string): Promise<string | null> {
     throw new Error('Failed to get username');
   }
 
-  return res.json();
+  return parseUsernameResponse(await res.json().catch(() => null));
 }
 
 export async function setUsername(token: string, username: string): Promise<{ username: string }> {
diff --git a/src/lib/username.test.ts b/src/lib/username.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..908b4d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/username.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+
+import { parseUsernameResponse } from './username.ts';
+
+test('accepts the v0.3 object shape', () => {
+  assert.equal(parseUsernameResponse({ username: 'alice' }), 'alice');
+  assert.equal(parseUsernameResponse({ username: null }), null);
+});
+
+test('accepts the legacy bare string shape', () => {
+  assert.equal(parseUsernameResponse('alice'), 'alice');
+  assert.equal(parseUsernameResponse(null), null);
+});
+
+test('never returns a non-string', () => {
+  for (const input of [undefined, '', 42, true, [], {}, { username: 7 }, { username: { a: 1 } }]) {
+    const result = parseUsernameResponse(input);
+    assert.ok(result === null || typeof result === 'string');
+    assert.equal(result, null);
+  }
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/username.ts b/src/lib/username.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8167ac4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/username.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+/**
+ * Normalize a `GET /users/me/username` response to a username or null.
+ *
+ * The legacy backend answered with a bare JSON string (or null). The v0.3
+ * backend answers with `{ "username": string | null }`. Anything else, including
+ * an empty string, is treated as "no username" so a shape change can never put a
+ * non-string into React state and crash the page.
+ */
+export function parseUsernameResponse(data: unknown): string | null {
+  const value =
+    data !== null && typeof data === 'object' && 'username' in data
+      ? (data as { username: unknown }).username
+      : data;
+  return typeof value === 'string' && value.length > 0 ? value : null;
+}
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index 34939b2..5f77cd9 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
     "skipLibCheck": true,
     "strict": true,
     "noEmit": true,
+    "allowImportingTsExtensions": true,
     "esModuleInterop": true,
     "module": "esnext",
     "moduleResolution": "bundler",