diff --git a/public/src/ajaxify.js b/public/src/ajaxify.js
index ff23e50527..76b1a545ba 100644
--- a/public/src/ajaxify.js
+++ b/public/src/ajaxify.js
@@ -160,7 +160,11 @@ ajaxify = window.ajaxify || {};
 					window.location.href = data.responseJSON.external;
 				} else if (typeof data.responseJSON === 'string') {
 					ajaxifyTimer = undefined;
-					ajaxify.go(data.responseJSON.slice(1), callback, quiet);
+					if (data.responseJSON.startsWith('http://') || data.responseJSON.startsWith('https://')) {
+						window.location.href = data.responseJSON;
+					} else {
+						ajaxify.go(data.responseJSON.slice(1), callback, quiet);
+					}
 				}
 			}
 		} else if (textStatus !== 'abort') {
diff --git a/src/controllers/category.js b/src/controllers/category.js
index 1815f67f1a..53984d04a6 100644
--- a/src/controllers/category.js
+++ b/src/controllers/category.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 
 const nconf = require('nconf');
+const validator = require('validator');
 
 const db = require('../database');
 const privileges = require('../privileges');
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ categoryController.get = async function (req, res, next) {
 	}
 
 	const [categoryFields, userPrivileges, userSettings, rssToken] = await Promise.all([
-		categories.getCategoryFields(cid, ['slug', 'disabled']),
+		categories.getCategoryFields(cid, ['slug', 'disabled', 'link']),
 		privileges.categories.get(cid, req.uid),
 		user.getSettings(req.uid),
 		user.auth.getFeedToken(req.uid),
@@ -52,6 +53,10 @@ categoryController.get = async function (req, res, next) {
 		return helpers.redirect(res, '/category/' + categoryFields.slug, true);
 	}
 
+	if (categoryFields.link) {
+		await db.incrObjectField('category:' + cid, 'timesClicked');
+		return helpers.redirect(res, validator.unescape(categoryFields.link));
+	}
 
 	if (!userSettings.usePagination) {
 		topicIndex = Math.max(0, topicIndex - (Math.ceil(userSettings.topicsPerPage / 2) - 1));
@@ -89,10 +94,7 @@ categoryController.get = async function (req, res, next) {
 	}
 
 	categories.modifyTopicsByPrivilege(categoryData.topics, userPrivileges);
-	if (categoryData.link) {
-		await db.incrObjectField('category:' + categoryData.cid, 'timesClicked');
-		return helpers.redirect(res, categoryData.link);
-	}
+
 	await buildBreadcrumbs(req, categoryData);
 	if (categoryData.children.length) {
 		const allCategories = [];
diff --git a/src/controllers/helpers.js b/src/controllers/helpers.js
index 8b15ff4d2b..e5377b4b42 100644
--- a/src/controllers/helpers.js
+++ b/src/controllers/helpers.js
@@ -145,9 +145,11 @@ helpers.notAllowed = async function (req, res, error) {
 
 helpers.redirect = function (res, url, permanent) {
 	if (res.locals.isAPI) {
-		res.set('X-Redirect', encodeURI(url)).status(200).json(url);
+		res.set('X-Redirect', encodeURI(url)).status(200).json(encodeURI(url));
 	} else {
-		res.redirect(permanent ? 308 : 307, relative_path + encodeURI(url));
+		const redirectUrl = url.startsWith('http://') || url.startsWith('https://') ?
+			url : relative_path + url;
+		res.redirect(permanent ? 308 : 307, encodeURI(redirectUrl));
 	}
 };
 
diff --git a/test/controllers.js b/test/controllers.js
index 5b4d2e0801..670ab3be34 100644
--- a/test/controllers.js
+++ b/test/controllers.js
@@ -2034,16 +2034,32 @@ describe('Controllers', function () {
 		});
 
 		it('should redirect if category is a link', function (done) {
+			let cid;
+			let category;
 			async.waterfall([
 				function (next) {
 					categories.create({ name: 'redirect', link: 'https://nodebb.org' }, next);
 				},
-				function (category, next) {
+				function (_category, next) {
+					category = _category;
+					cid = category.cid;
 					request(nconf.get('url') + '/api/category/' + category.slug, { jar: jar, json: true }, function (err, res, body) {
 						assert.ifError(err);
 						assert.equal(res.statusCode, 200);
-						assert.equal(res.headers['x-redirect'], 'https://nodebb.org');
-						assert.equal(body, 'https://nodebb.org');
+						assert.equal(res.headers['x-redirect'], 'https://nodebb.org');
+						assert.equal(body, 'https://nodebb.org');
+						next();
+					});
+				},
+				function (next) {
+					categories.setCategoryField(cid, 'link', '/recent', next);
+				},
+				function (next) {
+					request(nconf.get('url') + '/api/category/' + category.slug, { jar: jar, json: true }, function (err, res, body) {
+						assert.ifError(err);
+						assert.equal(res.statusCode, 200);
+						assert.equal(res.headers['x-redirect'], '/recent');
+						assert.equal(body, '/recent');
 						next();
 					});
 				},