diff --git a/internal/ap/extract.go b/internal/ap/extract.go
index 7d980f486..9417077f3 100644
--- a/internal/ap/extract.go
+++ b/internal/ap/extract.go
@@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ func ExtractMention(i Mentionable) (*gtsmodel.Mention, error) {
 	}
 
 	// just make sure the mention string is valid so we can handle it properly later on...
-	_, _, err = util.ExtractMentionParts(mentionString)
+	_, _, err = util.ExtractNamestringParts(mentionString)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/processing/search.go b/internal/processing/search.go
index 1b0813fd9..0851a9fc8 100644
--- a/internal/processing/search.go
+++ b/internal/processing/search.go
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ func (p *processor) SearchGet(ctx context.Context, authed *oauth.Auth, searchQue
 
 	var foundOne bool
 	// check if the query is something like @whatever_username@example.org -- this means it's a remote account
-	if _, domain, err := util.ExtractMentionParts(searchQuery.Query); err == nil && domain != "" {
+	if _, domain, err := util.ExtractNamestringParts(searchQuery.Query); err == nil && domain != "" {
 		l.Debug("search term is a mention, looking it up...")
 		foundAccount, err := p.searchAccountByMention(ctx, authed, searchQuery.Query, searchQuery.Resolve)
 		if err == nil && foundAccount != nil {
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ func (p *processor) searchAccountByURI(ctx context.Context, authed *oauth.Auth,
 
 func (p *processor) searchAccountByMention(ctx context.Context, authed *oauth.Auth, mention string, resolve bool) (*gtsmodel.Account, error) {
 	// query is for a remote account
-	username, domain, err := util.ExtractMentionParts(mention)
+	username, domain, err := util.ExtractNamestringParts(mention)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("searchAccountByMention: error extracting mention parts: %s", err)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/transport/derefinstance.go b/internal/transport/derefinstance.go
index 1acbcc364..00a7daf32 100644
--- a/internal/transport/derefinstance.go
+++ b/internal/transport/derefinstance.go
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ func dereferenceByNodeInfo(c context.Context, t *transport, iri *url.URL) (*gtsm
 			// see if there's a 'name' in the map
 			if name, present := v["name"]; present {
 				// name could be just a username, or could be a mention string eg @whatever@aaaa.com
-				username, _, err := util.ExtractMentionParts(name)
+				username, _, err := util.ExtractNamestringParts(name)
 				if err == nil {
 					// it was a mention string
 					contactAccountUsername = username
diff --git a/internal/util/namestring.go b/internal/util/namestring.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..611a1c0eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/util/namestring.go
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+/*
+   GoToSocial
+   Copyright (C) 2021-2022 GoToSocial Authors admin@gotosocial.org
+
+   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+package util
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/regexes"
+)
+
+// ExtractNamestringParts extracts the username test_user and
+// the domain example.org from a string like @test_user@example.org.
+//
+// If nothing is matched, it will return an error.
+func ExtractNamestringParts(mention string) (username, host string, err error) {
+	matches := regexes.MentionName.FindStringSubmatch(mention)
+	switch len(matches) {
+	case 2:
+		return matches[1], "", nil
+	case 3:
+		return matches[1], matches[2], nil
+	default:
+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("couldn't match mention %s", mention)
+	}
+}
+
+// ExtractWebfingerParts returns username test_user and
+// domain example.org from a string like acct:test_user@example.org,
+// or acct:@test_user@example.org.
+//
+// If nothing is extracted, it will return an error.
+func ExtractWebfingerParts(webfinger string) (username, host string, err error) {
+	// remove the acct: prefix if it's present
+	webfinger = strings.TrimPrefix(webfinger, "acct:")
+
+	// prepend an @ if necessary
+	if webfinger[0] != '@' {
+		webfinger = "@" + webfinger
+	}
+
+	return ExtractNamestringParts(webfinger)
+}
diff --git a/internal/util/statustools.go b/internal/util/statustools.go
index 08032a8f4..b2b7fffa1 100644
--- a/internal/util/statustools.go
+++ b/internal/util/statustools.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 package util
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/regexes"
@@ -59,19 +58,3 @@ func DeriveEmojisFromText(text string) []string {
 	}
 	return UniqueStrings(emojis)
 }
-
-// ExtractMentionParts extracts the username test_user and the domain example.org
-// from a mention string like @test_user@example.org.
-//
-// If nothing is matched, it will return an error.
-func ExtractMentionParts(mention string) (username, domain string, err error) {
-	matches := regexes.MentionName.FindStringSubmatch(mention)
-	switch len(matches) {
-	case 2:
-		return matches[1], "", nil
-	case 3:
-		return matches[1], matches[2], nil
-	default:
-		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("couldn't match mention %s", mention)
-	}
-}