diff --git a/src/utils/permalinks/RoomPermalinkCreator.js b/src/utils/permalinks/RoomPermalinkCreator.js
index aeb7d3b72c..88bcd5768a 100644
--- a/src/utils/permalinks/RoomPermalinkCreator.js
+++ b/src/utils/permalinks/RoomPermalinkCreator.js
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import MatrixClientPeg from "../../MatrixClientPeg";
 import isIp from "is-ip";
 import utils from 'matrix-js-sdk/lib/utils';
 import SpecPermalinkConstructor, {baseUrl as matrixtoBaseUrl} from "./SpecPermalinkConstructor";
-import PermalinkConstructor from "./PermalinkConstructor";
+import PermalinkConstructor, {PermalinkParts} from "./PermalinkConstructor";
 import RiotPermalinkConstructor from "./RiotPermalinkConstructor";
 
 const SdkConfig = require("../../SdkConfig");
@@ -291,6 +291,17 @@ function getPermalinkConstructor(): PermalinkConstructor {
     return new SpecPermalinkConstructor();
 }
 
+export function parsePermalink(fullUrl: string): PermalinkParts {
+    const riotPrefix = SdkConfig.get()['permalinkPrefix'];
+    if (fullUrl.startsWith(matrixtoBaseUrl)) {
+        return new SpecPermalinkConstructor().parsePermalink(fullUrl);
+    } else if (riotPrefix && fullUrl.startsWith(riotPrefix)) {
+        return new RiotPermalinkConstructor(riotPrefix).parsePermalink(fullUrl);
+    }
+
+    return null; // not a permalink we can handle
+}
+
 function getServerName(userId) {
     return userId.split(":").splice(1).join(":");
 }