diff --git a/include/ircd/m/room/message.h b/include/ircd/m/room/message.h
index a69304f47..6954cd02e 100644
--- a/include/ircd/m/room/message.h
+++ b/include/ircd/m/room/message.h
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ struct ircd::m::room::message
 	/// not a reply. If malformed, the message is not considered a reply.
 	id::event reply_to_event() const noexcept;
 
+	/// The user who sent the message being replied to; empty if not a reply
+	/// or the name was missing.
+	string_view reply_to_name() const noexcept;
+
 	/// The user who sent the message being replied to; empty if not a reply
 	/// or the username was missing or malformed.
 	id::user reply_to_user() const noexcept;
diff --git a/matrix/room_message.cc b/matrix/room_message.cc
index 1678e386c..85c3c520f 100644
--- a/matrix/room_message.cc
+++ b/matrix/room_message.cc
@@ -110,12 +110,12 @@ ircd::string_view
 ircd::m::room::message::reply_to_body()
 const noexcept
 {
-	const auto reply_to_user
+	const auto reply_to_name
 	{
-		this->reply_to_user()
+		this->reply_to_name()
 	};
 
-	if(likely(!reply_to_user))
+	if(likely(!reply_to_name))
 		return {};
 
 	string_view body
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ const noexcept
 
 	body = string_view
 	{
-		reply_to_user.end(), body.end()
+		reply_to_name.end(), body.end()
 	};
 
 	tokens(body, "\\n", [&body]
@@ -148,6 +148,21 @@ const noexcept
 ircd::m::user::id
 ircd::m::room::message::reply_to_user()
 const noexcept
+{
+	const auto reply_to_name
+	{
+		this->reply_to_name()
+	};
+
+	if(!valid(m::id::USER, reply_to_name))
+		return {};
+
+	return reply_to_name;
+}
+
+ircd::string_view
+ircd::m::room::message::reply_to_name()
+const noexcept
 {
 	string_view body
 	{
@@ -166,9 +181,6 @@ const noexcept
 		between(body, '<', '>')
 	};
 
-	if(!valid(m::id::USER, ret))
-		return {};
-
 	return ret;
 }