diff --git a/lib/util.php b/lib/util.php
index 88ddbcc006..7f9b237249 100644
--- a/lib/util.php
+++ b/lib/util.php
@@ -445,7 +445,7 @@ function common_render_content($text, $notice) {
 	$r = htmlspecialchars($text);
 	$id = $notice->profile_id;
 	$r = preg_replace('@https?://\S+@', '<a href="\0" class="extlink">\0</a>', $r);
-	$r = preg_replace('/(^|\b)@([\w-]+)($|\b)/e', "'\\1@'.common_at_link($id, '\\2').'\\3'", $r);
+	$r = preg_replace('/(^|\s+)@([\w-]+)/e', "'\\1@'.common_at_link($id, '\\2')", $r);
 	# XXX: # tags
 	# XXX: machine tags
 	return $r;