diff --git a/backend/src/mastodon/microformats.ts b/backend/src/mastodon/microformats.ts
index 1cc2f8e..c724958 100644
--- a/backend/src/mastodon/microformats.ts
+++ b/backend/src/mastodon/microformats.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import { parseHandle } from 'wildebeest/backend/src/utils/parse'
+import type { Actor } from 'wildebeest/backend/src/activitypub/actors'
+import { urlToHandle } from 'wildebeest/backend/src/utils/handle'
 
 function tag(name: string, content: string, attrs: Record<string, string> = {}): string {
 	let htmlAttrs = ''
@@ -13,18 +15,24 @@ const linkRegex = /(^|\s|\b)(https?:\/\/[-\w@:%._+~#=]{2,256}\.[a-z]{2,6}\b(?:[-
 const mentionedEmailRegex = /(^|\s|\b|\W)@(\w+(?:[.-]?\w+)+@\w+(?:[.-]?\w+)+(?:\.\w{2,63})+)(\b|\s|$)/g
 
 /// Transform a text status into a HTML status; enriching it with links / mentions.
-export function enrichStatus(status: string): string {
+export function enrichStatus(status: string, mentions: Array<Actor>): string {
 	const enrichedStatus = status
 		.replace(
 			linkRegex,
 			(_, matchPrefix: string, link: string, matchSuffix: string) =>
 				`${matchPrefix}${getLinkAnchor(link)}${matchSuffix}`
 		)
-		.replace(
-			mentionedEmailRegex,
-			(_, matchPrefix: string, email: string, matchSuffix: string) =>
-				`${matchPrefix}${getMentionSpan(email)}${matchSuffix}`
-		)
+		.replace(mentionedEmailRegex, (_, matchPrefix: string, email: string, matchSuffix: string) => {
+			// ensure that the match is part of the mentions array
+			for (let i = 0, len = mentions.length; i < len; i++) {
+				if (email === urlToHandle(mentions[i].id)) {
+					return `${matchPrefix}${getMentionSpan(email)}${matchSuffix}`
+				}
+			}
+
+			// otherwise the match isn't valid and we don't add HTML
+			return `${matchPrefix}${email}${matchSuffix}`
+		})
 
 	return tag('p', enrichedStatus)
 }
diff --git a/backend/src/webfinger/index.ts b/backend/src/webfinger/index.ts
index dc79401..8f65d9e 100644
--- a/backend/src/webfinger/index.ts
+++ b/backend/src/webfinger/index.ts
@@ -21,20 +21,21 @@ export async function queryAcct(domain: string, acct: string): Promise<Actor | n
 
 export async function queryAcctLink(domain: string, acct: string): Promise<URL | null> {
 	const params = new URLSearchParams({ resource: `acct:${acct}` })
-	let res
+	let data: WebFingerResponse
 	try {
 		const url = new URL('/.well-known/webfinger?' + params, 'https://' + domain)
 		console.log('query', url.href)
-		res = await fetch(url, { headers })
+		const res = await fetch(url, { headers })
 		if (!res.ok) {
 			throw new Error(`WebFinger API returned: ${res.status}`)
 		}
+
+		data = await res.json<WebFingerResponse>()
 	} catch (err) {
 		console.warn('failed to query WebFinger:', err)
 		return null
 	}
 
-	const data = await res.json<WebFingerResponse>()
 	for (let i = 0, len = data.links.length; i < len; i++) {
 		const link = data.links[i]
 		if (link.rel === 'self' && link.type === 'application/activity+json') {
diff --git a/backend/test/mastodon.spec.ts b/backend/test/mastodon.spec.ts
index 5ed498d..3f5e2b3 100644
--- a/backend/test/mastodon.spec.ts
+++ b/backend/test/mastodon.spec.ts
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ describe('Mastodon APIs', () => {
 	})
 
 	describe('Microformats', () => {
-		test('convert mentions to HTML', () => {
+		test('convert mentions to HTML', async () => {
 			const mentionsToTest = [
 				{
 					mention: '@sven2@example.com',
@@ -195,18 +195,34 @@ describe('Mastodon APIs', () => {
 						'<span class="h-card"><a href="https://123456.test.testey.abcdef/@testey" class="u-url mention">@<span>testey</span></a></span>',
 				},
 			]
-			mentionsToTest.forEach(({ mention, expectedMentionSpan }) => {
-				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`hey ${mention} hi`), `<p>hey ${expectedMentionSpan} hi</p>`)
-				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`${mention} hi`), `<p>${expectedMentionSpan} hi</p>`)
-				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`${mention}\n\thein`), `<p>${expectedMentionSpan}\n\thein</p>`)
-				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`hey ${mention}`), `<p>hey ${expectedMentionSpan}</p>`)
-				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`${mention}`), `<p>${expectedMentionSpan}</p>`)
-				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`@!@£${mention}!!!`), `<p>@!@£${expectedMentionSpan}!!!</p>`)
-			})
+
+			for (let i = 0, len = mentionsToTest.length; i < len; i++) {
+				const { mention, expectedMentionSpan } = mentionsToTest[i]
+
+				// List of mentioned actors, only the `id` is required so we can hack together an Actor
+				const mentions: any = [
+					{ id: new URL('https://example.com/sven2') },
+					{ id: new URL('https://example.eng.com/test') },
+					{ id: new URL('https://example.eng.co.uk/test.a.b.c-d') },
+					{ id: new URL('https://123456.abcdef/testey') },
+					{ id: new URL('https://123456.test.testey.abcdef/testey') },
+				]
+
+				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`hey ${mention} hi`, mentions), `<p>hey ${expectedMentionSpan} hi</p>`)
+				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`${mention} hi`, mentions), `<p>${expectedMentionSpan} hi</p>`)
+				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`${mention}\n\thein`, mentions), `<p>${expectedMentionSpan}\n\thein</p>`)
+				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`hey ${mention}`, mentions), `<p>hey ${expectedMentionSpan}</p>`)
+				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`${mention}`, mentions), `<p>${expectedMentionSpan}</p>`)
+				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`@!@£${mention}!!!`, mentions), `<p>@!@£${expectedMentionSpan}!!!</p>`)
+			}
 		})
 
 		test('handle invalid mention', () => {
-			assert.equal(enrichStatus('hey @#-...@example.com'), '<p>hey @#-...@example.com</p>')
+			assert.equal(enrichStatus('hey @#-...@example.com', []), '<p>hey @#-...@example.com</p>')
+		})
+
+		test('mention to invalid user', () => {
+			assert.equal(enrichStatus('hey test@example.com', []), '<p>hey test@example.com</p>')
 		})
 
 		test('convert links to HTML', () => {
@@ -222,11 +238,11 @@ describe('Mastodon APIs', () => {
 			linksToTest.forEach((link) => {
 				const url = new URL(link)
 				const urlDisplayText = `${url.hostname}${url.pathname}`
-				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`hey ${link} hi`), `<p>hey <a href="${link}">${urlDisplayText}</a> hi</p>`)
-				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`${link} hi`), `<p><a href="${link}">${urlDisplayText}</a> hi</p>`)
-				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`hey ${link}`), `<p>hey <a href="${link}">${urlDisplayText}</a></p>`)
-				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`${link}`), `<p><a href="${link}">${urlDisplayText}</a></p>`)
-				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`@!@£${link}!!!`), `<p>@!@£<a href="${link}">${urlDisplayText}</a>!!!</p>`)
+				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`hey ${link} hi`, []), `<p>hey <a href="${link}">${urlDisplayText}</a> hi</p>`)
+				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`${link} hi`, []), `<p><a href="${link}">${urlDisplayText}</a> hi</p>`)
+				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`hey ${link}`, []), `<p>hey <a href="${link}">${urlDisplayText}</a></p>`)
+				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`${link}`, []), `<p><a href="${link}">${urlDisplayText}</a></p>`)
+				assert.equal(enrichStatus(`@!@£${link}!!!`, []), `<p>@!@£<a href="${link}">${urlDisplayText}</a>!!!</p>`)
 			})
 		})
 	})
diff --git a/backend/test/mastodon/statuses.spec.ts b/backend/test/mastodon/statuses.spec.ts
index f10ab64..db26dc7 100644
--- a/backend/test/mastodon/statuses.spec.ts
+++ b/backend/test/mastodon/statuses.spec.ts
@@ -457,6 +457,11 @@ describe('Mastodon APIs', () => {
 						})
 					)
 				}
+				if (
+					input.toString() === 'https://cloudflare.com/.well-known/webfinger?resource=acct%3Ano-json%40cloudflare.com'
+				) {
+					return new Response('not json', { status: 200 })
+				}
 
 				if (input.toString() === 'https://instance.horse/users/sven') {
 					return new Response(
@@ -496,7 +501,7 @@ describe('Mastodon APIs', () => {
 			}
 
 			{
-				const mentions = await getMentions('unknown@actor.com', domain)
+				const mentions = await getMentions('no-json@actor.com', domain)
 				assert.equal(mentions.length, 0)
 			}
 
@@ -524,6 +529,11 @@ describe('Mastodon APIs', () => {
 				assert.equal(mentions.length, 1)
 				assert.equal(mentions[0].id.toString(), 'https://' + domain + '/users/sven')
 			}
+
+			{
+				const mentions = await getMentions('<p>@unknown</p>', domain)
+				assert.equal(mentions.length, 0)
+			}
 		})
 
 		test('get status count likes', async () => {
diff --git a/functions/api/v1/statuses.ts b/functions/api/v1/statuses.ts
index 75da97b..e1912b4 100644
--- a/functions/api/v1/statuses.ts
+++ b/functions/api/v1/statuses.ts
@@ -107,12 +107,12 @@ export async function handleRequest(
 
 	const hashtags = getHashtags(body.status)
 
-	const content = enrichStatus(body.status)
 	const mentions = await getMentions(body.status, domain)
 	if (mentions.length > 0) {
 		extraProperties.tag = mentions.map(newMention)
 	}
 
+	const content = enrichStatus(body.status, mentions)
 	const note = await createStatus(domain, db, connectedActor, content, mediaAttachments, extraProperties)
 
 	if (hashtags.length > 0) {