diff --git a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractMentions.js b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractMentions.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f2b28444f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractMentions.js
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import cheerio from 'cheerio'
+const ID_REGEX = /\/profile\/([\w\-.!~*'"(),]+)/g
+
+export default function (content) {
+  const $ = cheerio.load(content)
+  const urls = $('.mention').map((_, el) => {
+    return $(el).attr('href')
+  }).get()
+  const ids = []
+  urls.forEach((url) => {
+    let match
+    while ((match = ID_REGEX.exec(url)) != null) {
+      ids.push(match[1])
+    }
+  })
+  return ids
+}
diff --git a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractMentions.spec.js b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractMentions.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..625b1d8fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/extractMentions.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import extractIds from './extractMentions'
+
+describe('extract', () => {
+  describe('searches through links', () => {
+    it('ignores links without .mention class', () => {
+      const content = '<p>Something inspirational about <a href="/profile/u2" target="_blank">@bob-der-baumeister</a> and <a href="/profile/u3" target="_blank">@jenny-rostock</a>.</p>'
+      expect(extractIds(content)).toEqual([])
+    })
+
+    describe('given a link with .mention class', () => {
+      it('extracts ids', () => {
+        const content = '<p>Something inspirational about <a href="/profile/u2" class="mention" target="_blank">@bob-der-baumeister</a> and <a href="/profile/u3/jenny-rostock" class="mention" target="_blank">@jenny-rostock</a>.</p>'
+        expect(extractIds(content)).toEqual(['u2', 'u3'])
+      })
+
+      describe('handles links', () => {
+        it('with slug and id', () => {
+          const content = '<p>Something inspirational about <a href="/profile/u2/bob-der-baumeister" class="mention" target="_blank">@bob-der-baumeister</a> and <a href="/profile/u3/jenny-rostock/" class="mention" target="_blank">@jenny-rostock</a>.</p>'
+          expect(extractIds(content)).toEqual(['u2', 'u3'])
+        })
+
+        it('with domains', () => {
+          const content = '<p>Something inspirational about <a href="http://localhost:3000/profile/u2/bob-der-baumeister" class="mention" target="_blank">@bob-der-baumeister</a> and <a href="http://localhost:3000//profile/u3/jenny-rostock/" class="mention" target="_blank">@jenny-rostock</a>.</p>'
+          expect(extractIds(content)).toEqual(['u2', 'u3'])
+        })
+
+        it('special characters', () => {
+          const content = '<p>Something inspirational about <a href="http://localhost:3000/profile/u!*(),2/bob-der-baumeister" class="mention" target="_blank">@bob-der-baumeister</a> and <a href="http://localhost:3000//profile/u.~-3/jenny-rostock/" class="mention" target="_blank">@jenny-rostock</a>.</p>'
+          expect(extractIds(content)).toEqual(['u!*(),2', 'u.~-3'])
+        })
+      })
+
+      describe('does not crash if', () => {
+        it('`href` contains no user id', () => {
+          const content = '<p>Something inspirational about <a href="/profile" class="mention" target="_blank">@bob-der-baumeister</a> and <a href="/profile/" class="mention" target="_blank">@jenny-rostock</a>.</p>'
+          expect(extractIds(content)).toEqual([])
+        })
+
+        it('`href` is empty or invalid', () => {
+          const content = '<p>Something inspirational about <a href="" class="mention" target="_blank">@bob-der-baumeister</a> and <a href="not-a-url" class="mention" target="_blank">@jenny-rostock</a>.</p>'
+          expect(extractIds(content)).toEqual([])
+        })
+      })
+    })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/index.js b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/index.js
index 159f055f3..0efd140d2 100644
--- a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/index.js
+++ b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/index.js
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
-import { extractSlugs } from './mentions'
+import extractIds from './extractMentions'
 
 const notify = async (resolve, root, args, context, resolveInfo) => {
   const post = await resolve(root, args, context, resolveInfo)
 
   const session = context.driver.session()
   const { content, id: postId } = post
-  const slugs = extractSlugs(content)
+  const slugs = extractIds(content)
   const createdAt = (new Date()).toISOString()
   const cypher = `
     match(u:User) where u.slug in $slugs
diff --git a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/mentions.js b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/mentions.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 137c23f1c..000000000
--- a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/mentions.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-const MENTION_REGEX = /\s@([\w_-]+)/g
-
-export function extractSlugs (content) {
-  let slugs = []
-  let match
-  while ((match = MENTION_REGEX.exec(content)) != null) {
-    slugs.push(match[1])
-  }
-  return slugs
-}
diff --git a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/mentions.spec.js b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/mentions.spec.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 3e70514b7..000000000
--- a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/mentions.spec.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-import { extractSlugs } from './mentions'
-
-describe('extract', () => {
-  describe('searches through links', () => {
-    it('ignores links without .mention class', () => {
-      const content = '<p>Something inspirational about <a href="/profile/u2" target="_blank">@bob-der-baumeister</a> and <a href="/profile/u3" target="_blank">@jenny-rostock</a>.</p>'
-      expect(extractSlugs(content)).toEqual([])
-    })
-
-    describe('given a link with .mention class', () => {
-      const content = '<p>Something inspirational about <a href="/profile/u2" class="mention" target="_blank">@bob-der-baumeister</a> and <a href="/profile/u3/jenny-rostock" class="mention" target="_blank">@jenny-rostock</a>.</p>'
-
-      it('extracts ID', () => {
-        expect(extractSlugs(content)).toEqual(['u2', 'u3'])
-      })
-    })
-  })
-})