diff --git a/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/contactlist/MetaContactImpl.java b/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/contactlist/MetaContactImpl.java
index d8b355a0b..356e6a452 100644
--- a/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/contactlist/MetaContactImpl.java
+++ b/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/contactlist/MetaContactImpl.java
@@ -287,8 +287,11 @@ void addProtoContact(Contact contact)
 
             this.protoContacts.add(contact);
 
-            //if this is our firt contact - set the display name too.
-            if(this.protoContacts.size() == 1){
+            //if this is our firt contact and we don't already have a display
+            //name, use theirs.
+            if(this.protoContacts.size() == 1
+                &&( this.displayName == null
+                    || this.displayName.trim().length() == 0)){
                 //be careful not to use setDisplayName() here cause this will
                 //bring us into a deadlock.
                 this.displayName = new String(contact.getDisplayName().getBytes());