diff --git a/web/src/app/util/safeURL.ts b/web/src/app/util/safeURL.ts
index 85974101b8..7cf324eb53 100644
--- a/web/src/app/util/safeURL.ts
+++ b/web/src/app/util/safeURL.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,23 @@
+// decodeHtmlEntites will decode common HTML entities in a string.
+//
+// This is useful for ensuring that any encoded characters in the text are converted
+// back to their original form for comparision.
+function decodeHtmlEntites(text: string): string {
+  return text
+    .replace(/&/g, '&')
+    .replace(/&lt;/g, '<')
+    .replace(/&gt;/g, '>')
+    .replace(/&quot;/g, '"')
+    .replace(/&#39;/g, "'")
+}
+
 // safeURL will determine if a url is safe for linking.
 //
 // It tries to determine if the label is misleading.
 export function safeURL(url: string, label: string): boolean {
+  url = decodeHtmlEntites(url)
+  label = decodeHtmlEntites(label)
+
   if (url.startsWith('mailto:')) {
     const email = url.substr(7)
     return email === label && email.includes('@')
@@ -14,7 +30,7 @@ export function safeURL(url: string, label: string): boolean {
 
   // handle http protocols
   if (!/https?:\/\//.test(url)) return false // require absolute URLs
-  if (!/[./]/.test(label)) return true // don't consider it a path/url without slashes or periods
+  if (!/[./]/.test(url)) return true // don't consider it a path/url without slashes or periods
   if (url.startsWith(label)) return true // if it matches the beginning, then it's fine
   if (url.replace(/^https?:\/\//, '').startsWith(label)) return true // same prefix without protocol
   if (url.replace(/^https?:\/\//, '').startsWith('www.' + label)) return true // same prefix without protocol