diff --git a/plugins/Irc/IrcPlugin.php b/plugins/Irc/IrcPlugin.php
index 855aa3305e..5b5cab2ec5 100644
--- a/plugins/Irc/IrcPlugin.php
+++ b/plugins/Irc/IrcPlugin.php
@@ -179,7 +179,16 @@ class IrcPlugin extends ImPlugin {
      * @return true if processing completed, false if message should be reprocessed
      */
     public function receive_raw_message($data) {
-        $this->handle_incoming($data['sender'], $data['message']);
+        if (strpos($data['source'], '#') === 0) {
+            $message = $data['message'];
+            $nickpos = strpos($message, $this->nick);
+            $colonpos = strpos($message, ':', $nickpos);
+            if ($nickpos === 0 && $colonpos == strlen($this->nick)) {
+                $this->handle_incoming($data['sender'], substr($message, $colonpos+1));
+            }
+        } else {
+            $this->handle_incoming($data['sender'], $data['message']);
+        }
         return true;
     }
 
diff --git a/plugins/Irc/extlib/phergie/Phergie/Plugin/Statusnet.php b/plugins/Irc/extlib/phergie/Phergie/Plugin/Statusnet.php
index 694fefc06b..ec2b427466 100644
--- a/plugins/Irc/extlib/phergie/Phergie/Plugin/Statusnet.php
+++ b/plugins/Irc/extlib/phergie/Phergie/Plugin/Statusnet.php
@@ -72,9 +72,10 @@ class Phergie_Plugin_Statusnet extends Phergie_Plugin_Abstract {
         if ($this->messageCallback !== NULL) {
             $event = $this->getEvent();
             $source = $event->getSource();
+            $sender = $event->getNick();
             $message = trim($event->getText());
 
-            call_user_func($this->messageCallback, array('sender' => $source, 'message' => $message));
+            call_user_func($this->messageCallback, array('source' => $source, 'sender' => $sender, 'message' => $message));
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/plugins/Irc/ircmanager.php b/plugins/Irc/ircmanager.php
index 51996bef99..2ceb9db2c0 100644
--- a/plugins/Irc/ircmanager.php
+++ b/plugins/Irc/ircmanager.php
@@ -64,21 +64,6 @@ class IrcManager extends ImManager {
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Idle processing for io manager's execution loop.
-     * Send keepalive pings to server.
-     *
-     * @return void
-     */
-    public function idle() {
-        // Call Phergie's doTick methods if necessary
-        try {
-            $this->conn->handleEvents();
-        } catch (Phergie_Driver_Exception $e) {
-            $this->conn->reconnect();
-        }
-    }
-
     /**
      * Process IRC events that have come in over the wire.
      *