diff --git a/internal/api/client/account/account_test.go b/internal/api/client/account/account_test.go
index e214f7f03..f783a9492 100644
--- a/internal/api/client/account/account_test.go
+++ b/internal/api/client/account/account_test.go
@@ -58,9 +58,10 @@ func (suite *AccountStandardTestSuite) SetupSuite() {
 
 func (suite *AccountStandardTestSuite) SetupTest() {
 	testrig.InitTestConfig()
+	testrig.InitTestLog()
+
 	suite.db = testrig.NewTestDB()
 	suite.storage = testrig.NewTestStorage()
-	testrig.InitTestLog()
 	suite.mediaManager = testrig.NewTestMediaManager(suite.db, suite.storage)
 	suite.federator = testrig.NewTestFederator(suite.db, testrig.NewTestTransportController(testrig.NewMockHTTPClient(nil), suite.db), suite.storage, suite.mediaManager)
 	suite.sentEmails = make(map[string]string)
diff --git a/internal/api/client/account/statuses.go b/internal/api/client/account/statuses.go
index b1100b9c0..67a9f7cb8 100644
--- a/internal/api/client/account/statuses.go
+++ b/internal/api/client/account/statuses.go
@@ -194,14 +194,14 @@ func (m *Module) AccountStatusesGETHandler(c *gin.Context) {
 
 	publicOnly := false
 	publicOnlyString := c.Query(OnlyPublicKey)
-	if mediaOnlyString != "" {
+	if publicOnlyString != "" {
 		i, err := strconv.ParseBool(publicOnlyString)
 		if err != nil {
 			l.Debugf("error parsing public only string: %s", err)
 			c.JSON(http.StatusBadRequest, gin.H{"error": "couldn't parse public only query param"})
 			return
 		}
-		mediaOnly = i
+		publicOnly = i
 	}
 
 	statuses, errWithCode := m.processor.AccountStatusesGet(c.Request.Context(), authed, targetAcctID, limit, excludeReplies, maxID, minID, pinnedOnly, mediaOnly, publicOnly)
diff --git a/internal/api/client/account/statuses_test.go b/internal/api/client/account/statuses_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0e95d47fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/api/client/account/statuses_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+/*
+   GoToSocial
+   Copyright (C) 2021-2022 GoToSocial Authors admin@gotosocial.org
+
+   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+package account_test
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/suite"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/api/client/account"
+	apimodel "github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/api/model"
+)
+
+type AccountStatusesTestSuite struct {
+	AccountStandardTestSuite
+}
+
+func (suite *AccountStatusesTestSuite) TestGetStatusesMediaOnly() {
+	// set up the request
+	// we're getting statuses of admin
+	targetAccount := suite.testAccounts["admin_account"]
+	recorder := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	ctx := suite.newContext(recorder, http.MethodGet, nil, fmt.Sprintf("/api/v1/accounts/%s/statuses?limit=20&only_media=true&only_public=true", targetAccount.ID), "")
+	ctx.Params = gin.Params{
+		gin.Param{
+			Key:   account.IDKey,
+			Value: targetAccount.ID,
+		},
+	}
+
+	// call the handler
+	suite.accountModule.AccountStatusesGETHandler(ctx)
+
+	// 1. we should have OK because our request was valid
+	suite.Equal(http.StatusOK, recorder.Code)
+
+	// 2. we should have no error message in the result body
+	result := recorder.Result()
+	defer result.Body.Close()
+
+	// check the response
+	b, err := ioutil.ReadAll(result.Body)
+	assert.NoError(suite.T(), err)
+
+	// unmarshal the returned statuses
+	apimodelStatuses := []*apimodel.Status{}
+	err = json.Unmarshal(b, &apimodelStatuses)
+	suite.NoError(err)
+	suite.NotEmpty(apimodelStatuses)
+
+	for _, s := range apimodelStatuses {
+		suite.NotEmpty(s.MediaAttachments)
+		suite.Equal(apimodel.VisibilityPublic, s.Visibility)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAccountStatusesTestSuite(t *testing.T) {
+	suite.Run(t, new(AccountStatusesTestSuite))
+}
diff --git a/internal/db/bundb/account.go b/internal/db/bundb/account.go
index 9fc588207..50b0bfa38 100644
--- a/internal/db/bundb/account.go
+++ b/internal/db/bundb/account.go
@@ -263,10 +263,16 @@ func (a *accountDB) GetAccountStatuses(ctx context.Context, accountID string, li
 	}
 
 	if mediaOnly {
+		// attachments are stored as a json object;
+		// this implementation differs between sqlite and postgres,
+		// so we have to be very thorough to cover all eventualities
 		q = q.WhereGroup(" AND ", func(q *bun.SelectQuery) *bun.SelectQuery {
 			return q.
-				WhereOr("? IS NOT NULL", bun.Ident("attachments")).
-				WhereOr("attachments != '{}'")
+				Where("? IS NOT NULL", bun.Ident("attachments")).
+				Where("? != ''", bun.Ident("attachments")).
+				Where("? != 'null'", bun.Ident("attachments")).
+				Where("? != '{}'", bun.Ident("attachments")).
+				Where("? != '[]'", bun.Ident("attachments"))
 		})
 	}