diff --git a/inbox.py b/inbox.py
index 3b9e8d495..f19b20672 100644
--- a/inbox.py
+++ b/inbox.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ from languages import understood_post_language
 from like import update_likes_collection
 from reaction import update_reaction_collection
 from reaction import valid_emoji_content
+from utils import get_actor_from_post_id
 from utils import contains_invalid_actor_url_chars
 from utils import is_quote_toot
 from utils import acct_handle_dir
@@ -3110,19 +3111,7 @@ def _receive_announce(recent_posts_cache: {},
                         if not contains_invalid_actor_url_chars(attrib):
                             lookup_actor = attrib
         if lookup_actor:
-            if has_users_path(lookup_actor):
-                if '/statuses/' in lookup_actor:
-                    lookup_actor = lookup_actor.split('/statuses/')[0]
-                elif '/objects/' in lookup_actor:
-                    lookup_actor = lookup_actor.split('/objects/')[0]
-            elif '/p/' in lookup_actor:
-                # pixelfed style post id
-                lookup_nick = lookup_actor.split('/p/')[1]
-                if '/' in lookup_nick:
-                    lookup_nick = lookup_nick.split('/')[0]
-                lookup_actor = \
-                    lookup_actor.split('/p/')[0] + '/users/' + lookup_nick
-
+            lookup_actor = get_actor_from_post_id(lookup_actor)
             if lookup_actor:
                 if is_recent_post(post_json_object, 3):
                     if not os.path.isfile(post_filename + '.tts'):
diff --git a/utils.py b/utils.py
index 9587e2a5f..670c9510d 100644
--- a/utils.py
+++ b/utils.py
@@ -1265,11 +1265,30 @@ def dangerous_svg(content: str, allow_local_network_access: bool) -> bool:
                                     separators, invalid_strings)
 
 
+def get_actor_from_post_id(post_id: str) -> str:
+    """Returns an actor url from a post id
+    eg. https://somedomain/users/nick/statuses/123 becomes
+    https://somedomain/users/nick
+    """
+    actor = post_id
+    if has_users_path(actor):
+        if '/statuses/' in actor:
+            actor = actor.split('/statuses/')[0]
+        elif '/objects/' in actor:
+            actor = actor.split('/objects/')[0]
+    elif '/p/' in actor:
+        # pixelfed style post id
+        nick = actor.split('/p/')[1]
+        if '/' in nick:
+            nick = nick.split('/')[0]
+        actor = actor.split('/p/')[0] + '/users/' + nick
+    return actor
+
+
 def get_display_name(base_dir: str, actor: str, person_cache: {}) -> str:
     """Returns the display name for the given actor
     """
-    if '/statuses/' in actor:
-        actor = actor.split('/statuses/')[0]
+    actor = get_actor_from_post_id(actor)
     if not person_cache.get(actor):
         return None
     name_found = None
@@ -1341,8 +1360,7 @@ def get_gender_from_bio(base_dir: str, actor: str, person_cache: {},
     This is for use by text-to-speech for pitch setting
     """
     default_gender = 'They/Them'
-    if '/statuses/' in actor:
-        actor = actor.split('/statuses/')[0]
+    actor = get_actor_from_post_id(actor)
     if not person_cache.get(actor):
         return default_gender
     bio_found = None
@@ -1820,7 +1838,7 @@ def can_reply_to(base_dir: str, nickname: str, domain: str,
                  post_url: str, reply_interval_hours: int,
                  curr_date_str: str = None,
                  post_json_object: {} = None) -> bool:
-    """Is replying to the given post permitted?
+    """Is replying to the given local post permitted?
     This is a spam mitigation feature, so that spammers can't
     add a lot of replies to old post which you don't notice.
     """
diff --git a/webapp_search.py b/webapp_search.py
index 985d34ca0..3d209bd64 100644
--- a/webapp_search.py
+++ b/webapp_search.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import os
 from shutil import copyfile
 import urllib.parse
 from datetime import datetime
+from utils import get_actor_from_post_id
 from utils import remove_html
 from utils import harmless_markup
 from utils import remove_id_ending
@@ -1182,9 +1183,7 @@ def html_hashtag_search_remote(nickname: str, domain: str, port: int,
                'cc' in post_json_object:
                 new_url = \
                     remove_id_ending(post_json_object['id'])
-                actor = new_url
-                if '/statuses/' in actor:
-                    actor = actor.split('/statuses/')[0]
+                actor = get_actor_from_post_id(new_url)
                 new_post_json_object = {
                     "type": "Create",
                     "id": new_url + '/activity',