diff --git a/classes/Notice.php b/classes/Notice.php
index 2d13828f1f..4522d1fc38 100644
--- a/classes/Notice.php
+++ b/classes/Notice.php
@@ -964,7 +964,7 @@ class Notice extends Memcached_DataObject
         $groups = array();
 
         /* extract all !group */
-        $count = preg_match_all('/(?:^|\s)!([A-Za-z0-9]{1,64})/',
+        $count = preg_match_all('/(?:^|\s)!(' . Nickname::DISPLAY_FMT . ')/',
                                 strtolower($this->content),
                                 $match);
         if (!$count) {
diff --git a/plugins/GroupPrivateMessage/GroupPrivateMessagePlugin.php b/plugins/GroupPrivateMessage/GroupPrivateMessagePlugin.php
index 7598b3f2b7..9468423bed 100644
--- a/plugins/GroupPrivateMessage/GroupPrivateMessagePlugin.php
+++ b/plugins/GroupPrivateMessage/GroupPrivateMessagePlugin.php
@@ -391,8 +391,10 @@ class GroupPrivateMessagePlugin extends Plugin
 
         // Look for group tags
         // FIXME: won't work for remote groups
+        // @fixme if Notice::saveNew is refactored so we can just pull its list
+        // of groups between processing and saving, make use of it
 
-        $count = preg_match_all('/(?:^|\s)!([A-Za-z0-9]{1,64})/',
+        $count = preg_match_all('/(?:^|\s)!(' . Nickname::DISPLAY_FMT . ')/',
                                 strtolower($notice->content),
                                 $match);