diff --git a/src/activitypub/actors.js b/src/activitypub/actors.js
index 759296e73c..41b6a16e99 100644
--- a/src/activitypub/actors.js
+++ b/src/activitypub/actors.js
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ Actors.assert = async (ids, options = {}) => {
 	ids = ids.filter(id => !utils.isNumber(id));
 
 	// Translate webfinger handles to uris
+	const hostMap = new Map();
 	ids = (await Promise.all(ids.map(async (id) => {
 		const originalId = id;
 		if (activitypub.helpers.isWebfinger(id)) {
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ Actors.assert = async (ids, options = {}) => {
 			}
 
 			({ actorUri: id } = await activitypub.helpers.query(id));
+			hostMap.set(id, host);
 		}
 		// ensure the final id is a valid URI
 		if (!id || !activitypub.helpers.isUri(id)) {
@@ -130,7 +132,7 @@ Actors.assert = async (ids, options = {}) => {
 	actors = actors.filter(Boolean); // remove unresolvable actors
 
 	// Build userData object for storage
-	const profiles = (await activitypub.mocks.profile(actors)).filter(Boolean);
+	const profiles = (await activitypub.mocks.profile(actors, hostMap)).filter(Boolean);
 	const now = Date.now();
 
 	const bulkSet = profiles.reduce((memo, profile) => {
diff --git a/src/activitypub/mocks.js b/src/activitypub/mocks.js
index dad00dce6d..dadd6c36b0 100644
--- a/src/activitypub/mocks.js
+++ b/src/activitypub/mocks.js
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ const sanitizeConfig = {
 	},
 };
 
-Mocks.profile = async (actors) => {
+Mocks.profile = async (actors, hostMap) => {
 	// Should only ever be called by activitypub.actors.assert
 	const profiles = await Promise.all(actors.map(async (actor) => {
 		if (!actor) {
@@ -37,18 +37,20 @@ Mocks.profile = async (actors) => {
 		}
 
 		const uid = actor.id;
-		let hostname;
+		let hostname = hostMap.get(uid);
 		let {
 			url, preferredUsername, published, icon, image,
 			name, summary, followers, inbox, endpoints,
 		} = actor;
-		preferredUsername = preferredUsername || slugify(name);
+		preferredUsername = slugify(preferredUsername || name);
 		const { followers: followerCount, following: followingCount } = await activitypub.actors.getLocalFollowCounts(uid);
 
-		try {
-			({ hostname } = new URL(actor.id));
-		} catch (e) {
-			return null;
+		if (!hostname) { // if not available via webfinger, infer from id
+			try {
+				({ hostname } = new URL(actor.id));
+			} catch (e) {
+				return null;
+			}
 		}
 
 		let picture;