diff --git a/components/app.js b/components/app.js
index 1640cbd..eac383c 100644
--- a/components/app.js
+++ b/components/app.js
@@ -906,7 +906,7 @@ export default class App extends Component {
 
 		event.preventDefault();
 
-		let buf = State.getBuffer(this.state, { server: serverID, name: url.channel });
+		let buf = State.getBuffer(this.state, { server: serverID, name: url.channel || SERVER_BUFFER });
 		if (buf) {
 			this.switchBuffer(buf.id);
 		} else {
diff --git a/lib/irc.js b/lib/irc.js
index 95b7860..54f1b9b 100644
--- a/lib/irc.js
+++ b/lib/irc.js
@@ -666,17 +666,17 @@ export function parseURL(str) {
 
 	let i = str.indexOf("/");
 	if (i < 0) {
-		return null;
+		return { host: str };
 	}
 
 	let host = str.slice(0, i);
 	str = str.slice(i + 1);
 
 	// TODO: handle URLs with query params
-	if (!str.startsWith("#")) {
-		return null;
+	let channel = null;
+	if (str.startsWith("#")) {
+		channel = str;
 	}
-	let channel = str;
 
 	return { host, channel };
 }