diff --git a/src/HtmlUtils.js b/src/HtmlUtils.js
index 0b7f17b2b2..fe97d7b84f 100644
--- a/src/HtmlUtils.js
+++ b/src/HtmlUtils.js
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ limitations under the License.
 'use strict';
 
 var React = require('react');
-var ReactDOMServer = require('react-dom/server')
 var sanitizeHtml = require('sanitize-html');
 var highlight = require('highlight.js');
 
@@ -50,14 +49,23 @@ var sanitizeHtmlParams = {
     },
 };
 
-class Highlighter {
-    constructor(html, highlightClass, onHighlightClick) {
-        this.html = html;
+class BaseHighlighter {
+    constructor(highlightClass, highlightLink) {
         this.highlightClass = highlightClass;
-        this.onHighlightClick = onHighlightClick;
-        this._key = 0;
+        this.highlightLink = highlightLink;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * apply the highlights to a section of text
+     *
+     * @param {string} safeSnippet The snippet of text to apply the highlights
+     *     to.
+     * @param {string[]} safeHighlights A list of substrings to highlight,
+     *     sorted by descending length.
+     *
+     * returns a list of results (strings for HtmlHighligher, react nodes for
+     * TextHighlighter).
+     */
     applyHighlights(safeSnippet, safeHighlights) {
         var lastOffset = 0;
         var offset;
@@ -71,10 +79,12 @@ class Highlighter {
                 nodes = nodes.concat(this._applySubHighlights(subSnippet, safeHighlights));
             }
 
-            // do highlight
-            nodes.push(this._createSpan(safeHighlight, true));
+            // do highlight. use the original string rather than safeHighlight
+            // to preserve the original casing.
+            var endOffset = offset + safeHighlight.length;
+            nodes.push(this._processSnippet(safeSnippet.substring(offset, endOffset), true));
 
-            lastOffset = offset + safeHighlight.length;
+            lastOffset = endOffset;
         }
 
         // handle postamble
@@ -92,31 +102,64 @@ class Highlighter {
         }
         else {
             // no more highlights to be found, just return the unhighlighted string
-            return [this._createSpan(safeSnippet, false)];
+            return [this._processSnippet(safeSnippet, false)];
         }
     }
+}
+
+class HtmlHighlighter extends BaseHighlighter {
+    /* highlight the given snippet if required
+     *
+     * snippet: content of the span; must have been sanitised
+     * highlight: true to highlight as a search match
+     *
+     * returns an HTML string
+     */
+    _processSnippet(snippet, highlight) {
+        if (!highlight) {
+            // nothing required here
+            return snippet;
+        }
+
+        var span = "<span class=\""+this.highlightClass+"\">"
+            + snippet + "</span>";
+
+        if (this.highlightLink) {
+            span = "<a href=\""+encodeURI(this.highlightLink)+"\">"
+                +span+"</a>";
+        }
+        return span;
+    }
+}
+
+class TextHighlighter extends BaseHighlighter {
+    constructor(highlightClass, highlightLink) {
+        super(highlightClass, highlightLink);
+        this._key = 0;
+    }
 
     /* create a <span> node to hold the given content
      *
-     * spanBody: content of the span. If html, must have been sanitised
+     * snippet: content of the span
      * highlight: true to highlight as a search match
+     *
+     * returns a React node
      */
-    _createSpan(spanBody, highlight) {
+    _processSnippet(snippet, highlight) {
         var spanProps = {
             key: this._key++,
         };
 
         if (highlight) {
-            spanProps.onClick = this.onHighlightClick;
             spanProps.className = this.highlightClass;
         }
 
-        if (this.html) {
-            return (<span {...spanProps} dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: spanBody }} />);
-        }
-        else {
-            return (<span {...spanProps}>{ spanBody }</span>);
+        var node = <span {...spanProps}>{ snippet }</span>;
+
+        if (highlight && this.highlightLink) {
+            node = <a href={this.highlightLink}>{node}</a>
         }
+        return node;
     }
 }
 
@@ -128,8 +171,7 @@ module.exports = {
      *
      * highlights: optional list of words to highlight, ordered by longest word first
      *
-     * opts.onHighlightClick: optional callback function to be called when a
-     *     highlighted word is clicked
+     * opts.highlightLink: optional href to add to highlights
      */
     bodyToHtml: function(content, highlights, opts) {
         opts = opts || {};
@@ -144,18 +186,13 @@ module.exports = {
             // by an attempt to search for 'foobar'.  Then again, the search query probably wouldn't work either
             try {
                 if (highlights && highlights.length > 0) {
-                    var highlighter = new Highlighter(isHtml, "mx_EventTile_searchHighlight", opts.onHighlightClick);
+                    var highlighter = new HtmlHighlighter("mx_EventTile_searchHighlight", opts.highlightLink);
                     var safeHighlights = highlights.map(function(highlight) {
                         return sanitizeHtml(highlight, sanitizeHtmlParams);
                     });
                     // XXX: hacky bodge to temporarily apply a textFilter to the sanitizeHtmlParams structure.
                     sanitizeHtmlParams.textFilter = function(safeText) {
-                        return highlighter.applyHighlights(safeText, safeHighlights).map(function(span) {
-                            // XXX: rather clunky conversion from the react nodes returned by applyHighlights
-                            // (which need to be nodes for the non-html highlighting case), to convert them
-                            // back into raw HTML given that's what sanitize-html works in terms of.
-                            return ReactDOMServer.renderToString(span);
-                        }).join('');
+                        return highlighter.applyHighlights(safeText, safeHighlights).join('');
                     };
                 }
                 safeBody = sanitizeHtml(content.formatted_body, sanitizeHtmlParams);
@@ -167,7 +204,7 @@ module.exports = {
         } else {
             safeBody = content.body;
             if (highlights && highlights.length > 0) {
-                var highlighter = new Highlighter(isHtml, "mx_EventTile_searchHighlight", opts.onHighlightClick);
+                var highlighter = new TextHighlighter("mx_EventTile_searchHighlight", opts.highlightLink);
                 return highlighter.applyHighlights(safeBody, highlights);
             }
             else {
diff --git a/src/components/structures/RoomView.js b/src/components/structures/RoomView.js
index 25c289ba96..cd02d724b5 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/RoomView.js
+++ b/src/components/structures/RoomView.js
@@ -879,15 +879,6 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
         });
     },
 
-    _onSearchResultSelected: function(result) {
-        var event = result.context.getEvent();
-        dis.dispatch({
-            action: 'view_room',
-            room_id: event.getRoomId(),
-            event_id: event.getId(),
-        });
-    },
-
     getSearchResultTiles: function() {
         var EventTile = sdk.getComponent('rooms.EventTile');
         var SearchResultTile = sdk.getComponent('rooms.SearchResultTile');
@@ -948,10 +939,12 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
                 }
             }
 
+            var resultLink = "#/room/"+this.props.roomId+"/"+mxEv.getId();
+
             ret.push(<SearchResultTile key={mxEv.getId()}
                      searchResult={result}
                      searchHighlights={this.state.searchHighlights}
-                     onSelect={this._onSearchResultSelected.bind(this, result)}/>);
+                     resultLink={resultLink}/>);
         }
         return ret;
     },
diff --git a/src/components/views/messages/MessageEvent.js b/src/components/views/messages/MessageEvent.js
index 2490d9be8b..9cc0e22c59 100644
--- a/src/components/views/messages/MessageEvent.js
+++ b/src/components/views/messages/MessageEvent.js
@@ -28,6 +28,18 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
         }
     },
 
+    propTypes: {
+        /* the MatrixEvent to show */
+        mxEvent: React.PropTypes.object.isRequired,
+
+        /* a list of words to highlight */
+        highlights: React.PropTypes.array,
+
+        /* link URL for the highlights */
+        highlightLink: React.PropTypes.string,
+    },
+
+
     render: function() {
         var UnknownMessageTile = sdk.getComponent('messages.UnknownBody');
 
@@ -48,6 +60,6 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
         }
 
         return <TileType mxEvent={this.props.mxEvent} highlights={this.props.highlights} 
-                    onHighlightClick={this.props.onHighlightClick} />;
+                    highlightLink={this.props.highlightLink} />;
     },
 });
diff --git a/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js b/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js
index e3613ef9a3..92447dd1da 100644
--- a/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js
+++ b/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js
@@ -28,6 +28,17 @@ linkifyMatrix(linkify);
 module.exports = React.createClass({
     displayName: 'TextualBody',
 
+    propTypes: {
+        /* the MatrixEvent to show */
+        mxEvent: React.PropTypes.object.isRequired,
+
+        /* a list of words to highlight */
+        highlights: React.PropTypes.array,
+
+        /* link URL for the highlights */
+        highlightLink: React.PropTypes.string,
+    },
+
     componentDidMount: function() {
         linkifyElement(this.refs.content, linkifyMatrix.options);
 
@@ -46,14 +57,15 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
     shouldComponentUpdate: function(nextProps) {
         // exploit that events are immutable :)
         return (nextProps.mxEvent.getId() !== this.props.mxEvent.getId() ||
-                nextProps.highlights !== this.props.highlights);
+                nextProps.highlights !== this.props.highlights ||
+                nextProps.highlightLink !== this.props.highlightLink);
     },
 
     render: function() {
         var mxEvent = this.props.mxEvent;
         var content = mxEvent.getContent();
         var body = HtmlUtils.bodyToHtml(content, this.props.highlights,
-                                       {onHighlightClick: this.props.onHighlightClick});
+                                       {highlightLink: this.props.highlightLink});
 
         switch (content.msgtype) {
             case "m.emote":
diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/EventTile.js b/src/components/views/rooms/EventTile.js
index f580686128..36ec85e91b 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/EventTile.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/EventTile.js
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
         /* a list of words to highlight */
         highlights: React.PropTypes.array,
 
-        /* a function to be called when the highlight is clicked */
-        onHighlightClick: React.PropTypes.func,
+        /* link URL for the highlights */
+        highlightLink: React.PropTypes.string,
 
         /* is this the focussed event */
         isSelectedEvent: React.PropTypes.bool,
@@ -313,8 +313,8 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
                 { avatar }
                 { sender }
                 <div className="mx_EventTile_line">
-                    <EventTileType mxEvent={this.props.mxEvent} highlights={this.props.highlights} 
-                          onHighlightClick={this.props.onHighlightClick} />
+                    <EventTileType mxEvent={this.props.mxEvent} highlights={this.props.highlights}
+                          highlightLink={this.props.highlightLink}/>
                 </div>
             </div>
         );
diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/SearchResultTile.js b/src/components/views/rooms/SearchResultTile.js
index 9d3af16ee7..9c793e8705 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/SearchResultTile.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/SearchResultTile.js
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
         // a list of strings to be highlighted in the results
         searchHighlights: React.PropTypes.array,
 
-        // callback to be called when the user selects this result
-        onSelect: React.PropTypes.func,
+        // href for the highlights in this result
+        resultLink: React.PropTypes.string,
     },
 
     render: function() {
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
             }
             if (EventTile.haveTileForEvent(ev)) {
                 ret.push(<EventTile key={eventId+"+"+j} mxEvent={ev} contextual={contextual} highlights={highlights}
-                         onHighlightClick={this.props.onSelect}/>)
+                          highlightLink={this.props.resultLink}/>);
             }
         }
         return (