diff --git a/www/js/util.js b/www/js/util.js
index 51fa47c4..f28bb01c 100644
--- a/www/js/util.js
+++ b/www/js/util.js
@@ -1655,7 +1655,7 @@ function addChatMessage(data) {
 
     var isHighlight = false;
     if (CLIENT.name && data.username != CLIENT.name) {
-        if (data.msg.toLowerCase().indexOf(CLIENT.name.toLowerCase()) != -1) {
+        if (highlightsMe(data.msg)) {
             div.addClass("nick-highlight");
             isHighlight = true;
         }
@@ -1664,6 +1664,11 @@ function addChatMessage(data) {
     pingMessage(isHighlight, data.username, $(div.children()[2]).text());
 }
 
+function highlightsMe(message) {
+    // TODO: distinguish between text and HTML attributes as noted in #819
+    return message.match(new RegExp("(^|\\b)" + CLIENT.name + "($|\\b)", "gi"));
+}
+
 function trimChatBuffer() {
     var maxSize = window.CHATMAXSIZE;
     if (!maxSize || typeof maxSize !== "number")