diff --git a/protocol.py b/protocol.py
index fc271b8..6a5ba5e 100644
--- a/protocol.py
+++ b/protocol.py
@@ -79,26 +79,30 @@ class Protocol:
          :class:`Protocol` subclass, or None if the provided domain or request
            hostname domain is not a subdomain of brid.gy or isn't a known protocol
         """
-        request_cls = Protocol.for_domain(request.host)
-        if request_cls:
-            return request_cls
-        elif (request.host == common.PRIMARY_DOMAIN
-              or request.host in common.LOCAL_DOMAINS):
-            return fed
+        return Protocol.for_domain(request.host, fed=fed)
 
     @staticmethod
-    def for_domain(domain):
+    def for_domain(domain_or_url, fed=None):
         """Returns the protocol for a brid.gy subdomain.
 
+        Args:
+          domain_or_url: str
+          fed: :class:`Protocol` subclass to return if the domain_or_url is on
+            fed.brid.gy
+
         Returns:
          :class:`Protocol` subclass, or None if the request hostname is not a
            subdomain of brid.gy or isn't a known protocol
         """
-        if not domain or not domain.endswith(common.SUPERDOMAIN):
-            return None
+        domain = (util.domain_from_link(domain_or_url, minimize=False)
+                  if util.is_web(domain_or_url)
+                  else domain_or_url)
 
-        label = domain.removesuffix(common.SUPERDOMAIN)
-        return PROTOCOLS.get(label)
+        if domain == common.PRIMARY_DOMAIN or domain in common.LOCAL_DOMAINS:
+            return fed
+        elif domain and domain.endswith(common.SUPERDOMAIN):
+            label = domain.removesuffix(common.SUPERDOMAIN)
+            return PROTOCOLS.get(label)
 
     @classmethod
     def send(cls, obj, url, log_data=True):
@@ -223,7 +227,7 @@ class Protocol:
             followee_domain = util.domain_from_link(inner_obj_id, minimize=False)
             # TODO: avoid import?
             from web import Web
-            to_cls = Protocol.for_domain(followee_domain) or Protocol.for_request(fed=Web)
+            to_cls = Protocol.for_domain(followee_domain) or Protocol.for_request() or Web
             follower = Follower.query(
                 Follower.to == to_cls(id=followee_domain).key,
                 Follower.from_ == from_cls(id=actor_id).key,
@@ -383,20 +387,23 @@ class Protocol:
 
         logger.info(f'targets: {targets}')
 
-        # send webmentions and update Object
         errors = []  # stores (code, body) tuples
+
+        # TODO: avoid import?
+        from web import Web
+        targets = [Target(uri=uri, protocol=(Protocol.for_domain(uri) or Web).LABEL)
+                   for uri in targets]
+        no_user_domains = set()
+
         obj.undelivered = []
         obj.status = 'in progress'
 
-        for uri in targets:
-            # TODO: avoid import?
-            from web import Web
-            domain = util.domain_from_link(uri, minimize=False)
-            protocol = Protocol.for_domain(domain) or Protocol.for_request() or Web
-            obj.undelivered.append(Target(uri=uri, protocol=protocol.LABEL))
-
-        no_user_domains = set()
+        obj.populate(
+          undelivered=targets,
+          status='in progress',
+        )
 
+        # send webmentions and update Object
         while obj.undelivered:
             target = obj.undelivered.pop()
             domain = util.domain_from_link(target.uri, minimize=False)
diff --git a/tests/test_protocol.py b/tests/test_protocol.py
index f92c66e..0ff3e0d 100644
--- a/tests/test_protocol.py
+++ b/tests/test_protocol.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class ProtocolTest(TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(Web, PROTOCOLS['webmention'])
 
     def test_for_domain_for_request(self):
-        for domain, protocol in [
+        for domain, expected in [
                 ('fake.brid.gy', Fake),
                 ('ap.brid.gy', ActivityPub),
                 ('activitypub.brid.gy', ActivityPub),
@@ -58,19 +58,22 @@ class ProtocolTest(TestCase):
                 ('fake', None),
                 ('fake.com', None),
         ]:
-            with self.subTest(domain=domain, protocol=protocol):
-                self.assertEqual(protocol, Protocol.for_domain(domain))
+            with self.subTest(domain=domain, expected=expected):
+                self.assertEqual(expected, Protocol.for_domain(domain))
                 with app.test_request_context('/foo', base_url=f'https://{domain}/'):
-                    self.assertEqual(protocol, Protocol.for_request())
-
-    def test_for_request_fed(self):
-        for base_url in 'https://fed.brid.gy/', 'http://localhost/':
-            with app.test_request_context('/foo', base_url=base_url):
-                self.assertEqual(Fake, Protocol.for_request(fed=Fake))
-
-        with app.test_request_context('/foo', base_url='https://ap.brid.gy/'):
-            self.assertEqual(ActivityPub, Protocol.for_request(fed=Fake))
+                    self.assertEqual(expected, Protocol.for_request())
 
+    def test_for_domain_for_request_fed(self):
+        for url, expected in [
+            ('https://fed.brid.gy/', Fake),
+            ('http://localhost/foo', Fake),
+            ('https://ap.brid.gy/bar', ActivityPub),
+            ('https://baz/biff', None),
+        ]:
+            with self.subTest(url=url, expected=expected):
+                self.assertEqual(expected, Protocol.for_domain(url, fed=Fake))
+                with app.test_request_context('/foo', base_url=url):
+                    self.assertEqual(expected, Protocol.for_request(fed=Fake))
 
     @patch('requests.get')
     def test_receive_reply_not_feed_not_notification(self, mock_get):