diff --git a/src/HtmlUtils.js b/src/HtmlUtils.js
index 2b7384a5aa..9cf3994ff4 100644
--- a/src/HtmlUtils.js
+++ b/src/HtmlUtils.js
@@ -394,6 +394,7 @@ class TextHighlighter extends BaseHighlighter {
  * opts.stripReplyFallback: optional argument specifying the event is a reply and so fallback needs removing
  * opts.returnString: return an HTML string rather than JSX elements
  * opts.forComposerQuote: optional param to lessen the url rewriting done by sanitization, for quoting into composer
+ * opts.ref: React ref to attach to any React components returned (not compatible with opts.returnString)
  */
 export function bodyToHtml(content, highlights, opts={}) {
     const isHtmlMessage = content.format === "org.matrix.custom.html" && content.formatted_body;
@@ -476,8 +477,8 @@ export function bodyToHtml(content, highlights, opts={}) {
     });
 
     return isDisplayedWithHtml ?
-        <span key="body" className={className} dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: safeBody }} dir="auto" /> :
-        <span key="body" className={className} dir="auto">{ strippedBody }</span>;
+        <span key="body" ref={opts.ref} className={className} dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: safeBody }} dir="auto" /> :
+        <span key="body" ref={opts.ref} className={className} dir="auto">{ strippedBody }</span>;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/components/views/context_menus/MessageContextMenu.js b/src/components/views/context_menus/MessageContextMenu.js
index efbfc4322f..2084a67cdc 100644
--- a/src/components/views/context_menus/MessageContextMenu.js
+++ b/src/components/views/context_menus/MessageContextMenu.js
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ module.exports = createReactClass({
             </MenuItem>
         );
 
-        if (this.props.eventTileOps && this.props.eventTileOps.getInnerText) {
+        if (this.props.eventTileOps) { // this event is rendered using TextuaLBody
             quoteButton = (
                 <MenuItem className="mx_MessageContextMenu_field" onClick={this.onQuoteClick}>
                     { _t('Quote') }
diff --git a/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js b/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js
index 2680c13512..fdfa351df3 100644
--- a/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js
+++ b/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
-import React from 'react';
+import React, {createRef} from 'react';
 import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
 import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
 import createReactClass from 'create-react-class';
@@ -86,6 +86,10 @@ module.exports = createReactClass({
         return successful;
     },
 
+    componentWillMount: function() {
+        this._content = createRef();
+    },
+
     componentDidMount: function() {
         this._unmounted = false;
         if (!this.props.editState) {
@@ -94,13 +98,13 @@ module.exports = createReactClass({
     },
 
     _applyFormatting() {
-        this.activateSpoilers(this.refs.content.children);
+        this.activateSpoilers([this._content.current]);
 
         // pillifyLinks BEFORE linkifyElement because plain room/user URLs in the composer
         // are still sent as plaintext URLs. If these are ever pillified in the composer,
         // we should be pillify them here by doing the linkifying BEFORE the pillifying.
-        pillifyLinks(this.refs.content.children, this.props.mxEvent);
-        HtmlUtils.linkifyElement(this.refs.content);
+        pillifyLinks([this._content.current], this.props.mxEvent);
+        HtmlUtils.linkifyElement(this._content.current);
         this.calculateUrlPreview();
 
         if (this.props.mxEvent.getContent().format === "org.matrix.custom.html") {
@@ -163,7 +167,8 @@ module.exports = createReactClass({
         //console.info("calculateUrlPreview: ShowUrlPreview for %s is %s", this.props.mxEvent.getId(), this.props.showUrlPreview);
 
         if (this.props.showUrlPreview) {
-            let links = this.findLinks(this.refs.content.children);
+            // pass only the first child which is the event tile otherwise this recurses on edited events
+            let links = this.findLinks([this._content.current]);
             if (links.length) {
                 // de-dup the links (but preserve ordering)
                 const seen = new Set();
@@ -325,10 +330,6 @@ module.exports = createReactClass({
                     global.localStorage.removeItem("hide_preview_" + this.props.mxEvent.getId());
                 }
             },
-
-            getInnerText: () => {
-                return this.refs.content.innerText;
-            },
         };
     },
 
@@ -424,6 +425,7 @@ module.exports = createReactClass({
             disableBigEmoji: content.msgtype === "m.emote" || !SettingsStore.getValue('TextualBody.enableBigEmoji'),
             // Part of Replies fallback support
             stripReplyFallback: stripReply,
+            ref: this._content,
         });
         if (this.props.replacingEventId) {
             body = [body, this._renderEditedMarker()];
@@ -450,15 +452,14 @@ module.exports = createReactClass({
 
         switch (content.msgtype) {
             case "m.emote":
-                const name = mxEvent.sender ? mxEvent.sender.name : mxEvent.getSender();
                 return (
-                    <span ref="content" className="mx_MEmoteBody mx_EventTile_content">
+                    <span className="mx_MEmoteBody mx_EventTile_content">
                         *&nbsp;
                         <span
                             className="mx_MEmoteBody_sender"
                             onClick={this.onEmoteSenderClick}
                         >
-                            { name }
+                            { mxEvent.sender ? mxEvent.sender.name : mxEvent.getSender() }
                         </span>
                         &nbsp;
                         { body }
@@ -467,14 +468,14 @@ module.exports = createReactClass({
                 );
             case "m.notice":
                 return (
-                    <span ref="content" className="mx_MNoticeBody mx_EventTile_content">
+                    <span className="mx_MNoticeBody mx_EventTile_content">
                         { body }
                         { widgets }
                     </span>
                 );
             default: // including "m.text"
                 return (
-                    <span ref="content" className="mx_MTextBody mx_EventTile_content">
+                    <span className="mx_MTextBody mx_EventTile_content">
                         { body }
                         { widgets }
                     </span>