diff --git a/servehelper.cpp b/servehelper.cpp
index 7eaee0d..66d236d 100644
--- a/servehelper.cpp
+++ b/servehelper.cpp
@@ -241,20 +241,29 @@ static inline void preprocess_link(const httplib::Request& req, const std::strin
     const lxb_char_t* cls_c = lxb_dom_element_class(element, &cls_c_len);
     std::string cls = cls_c ? std::string(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(cls_c), cls_c_len) : "";
 
-    CurlUrl href_url;
-    href_url.set(CURLUPART_URL, get_origin(req));
-    href_url.set(CURLUPART_PATH, std::string(href_url.get(CURLUPART_PATH).get()) + req.path);
-    href_url.set(CURLUPART_URL, href);
-    CurlUrl instance_url_base;
-    instance_url_base.set(CURLUPART_SCHEME, "https");
-    instance_url_base.set(CURLUPART_HOST, domain_name);
-    // .mention is used in note and posts
-    // Instance base is used for link fields
-    if (std::regex_search(cls, mention_class_re) || starts_with(href_url, instance_url_base)) {
-        // Proxy this instance's URLs to Coyote
-        href = proxy_mastodon_url(req, std::move(href));
+    try {
+        CurlUrl href_url;
+        href_url.set(CURLUPART_URL, get_origin(req));
+        href_url.set(CURLUPART_PATH, std::string(href_url.get(CURLUPART_PATH).get()) + req.path);
+        href_url.set(CURLUPART_URL, href);
 
-        lxb_dom_element_set_attribute(element, reinterpret_cast<const lxb_char_t*>("href"), 4, reinterpret_cast<const lxb_char_t*>(href.data()), href.size());
+        CurlUrl instance_url_base;
+        instance_url_base.set(CURLUPART_SCHEME, "https");
+        instance_url_base.set(CURLUPART_HOST, domain_name);
+
+        // .mention is used in note and posts
+        // Instance base is used for link fields
+        if (std::regex_search(cls, mention_class_re) || starts_with(href_url, instance_url_base)) {
+            // Proxy this instance's URLs to Coyote
+            href = proxy_mastodon_url(req, std::move(href));
+
+            lxb_dom_element_set_attribute(element, reinterpret_cast<const lxb_char_t*>("href"), 4, reinterpret_cast<const lxb_char_t*>(href.data()), href.size());
+        }
+    } catch (const CurlUrlException& e) {
+        // example: <a href=""></a> on eldritch.cafe/about
+        if (e.code != CURLUE_MALFORMED_INPUT) {
+            throw;
+        }
     }
 
     if (should_fix_link(element, cls)) {