diff --git a/src/linkify-matrix.js b/src/linkify-matrix.js
index 1a40fde26f..84a131f23a 100644
--- a/src/linkify-matrix.js
+++ b/src/linkify-matrix.js
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ matrixLinkify.options = {
     target: function(href, type) {
         if (type === 'url') {
             const transformed = tryTransformPermalinkToLocalHref(href);
-            if (transformed !== href || href.match(matrixLinkify.ELEMENT_URL_PATTERN)) {
+            if (transformed !== href || decodeURIComponent(href).match(matrixLinkify.ELEMENT_URL_PATTERN)) {
                 return null;
             } else {
                 return '_blank';
diff --git a/src/utils/permalinks/Permalinks.js b/src/utils/permalinks/Permalinks.js
index bcf4d87136..2db8b9f998 100644
--- a/src/utils/permalinks/Permalinks.js
+++ b/src/utils/permalinks/Permalinks.js
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ export function tryTransformPermalinkToLocalHref(permalink: string): string {
         return permalink;
     }
 
-    const m = permalink.match(matrixLinkify.ELEMENT_URL_PATTERN);
+    const m = decodeURIComponent(permalink).match(matrixLinkify.ELEMENT_URL_PATTERN);
     if (m) {
         return m[1];
     }
@@ -402,8 +402,8 @@ function getPermalinkConstructor(): PermalinkConstructor {
 
 export function parsePermalink(fullUrl: string): PermalinkParts {
     const elementPrefix = SdkConfig.get()['permalinkPrefix'];
-    if (fullUrl.startsWith(matrixtoBaseUrl)) {
-        return new SpecPermalinkConstructor().parsePermalink(fullUrl);
+    if (decodeURIComponent(fullUrl).startsWith(matrixtoBaseUrl)) {
+        return new SpecPermalinkConstructor().parsePermalink(decodeURIComponent(fullUrl));
     } else if (elementPrefix && fullUrl.startsWith(elementPrefix)) {
         return new ElementPermalinkConstructor(elementPrefix).parsePermalink(fullUrl);
     }