diff --git a/thoughts-frontend/app/remote-actor/page.tsx b/thoughts-frontend/app/remote-actor/page.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d8b9bce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thoughts-frontend/app/remote-actor/page.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import { notFound } from "next/navigation";
+import { cookies } from "next/headers";
+import { getMe, lookupRemoteActor, getRemoteActorPosts, Me } from "@/lib/api";
+import { RemoteUserProfile } from "@/components/remote-user-profile";
+
+interface RemoteActorPageProps {
+  searchParams: Promise<{ handle?: string }>;
+}
+
+export default async function RemoteActorPage({
+  searchParams,
+}: RemoteActorPageProps) {
+  const { handle } = await searchParams;
+  if (!handle) notFound();
+
+  const token = (await cookies()).get("auth_token")?.value ?? null;
+
+  const [actorResult, postsResult, meResult] = await Promise.allSettled([
+    lookupRemoteActor(handle, token),
+    getRemoteActorPosts(handle, 1, token),
+    token ? getMe(token) : Promise.resolve(null),
+  ]);
+
+  if (actorResult.status === "rejected") {
+    notFound();
+  }
+
+  const actor = actorResult.value;
+  const posts =
+    postsResult.status === "fulfilled" ? postsResult.value.items : [];
+  const me =
+    meResult.status === "fulfilled" ? (meResult.value as Me | null) : null;
+
+  return <RemoteUserProfile actor={actor} initialPosts={posts} me={me} />;
+}
diff --git a/thoughts-frontend/app/users/[username]/page.tsx b/thoughts-frontend/app/users/[username]/page.tsx
index f49e000..dec722c 100644
--- a/thoughts-frontend/app/users/[username]/page.tsx
+++ b/thoughts-frontend/app/users/[username]/page.tsx
@@ -5,11 +5,8 @@ import {
   getTopFriends,
   getUserProfile,
   getUserThoughts,
-  lookupRemoteActor,
-  getRemoteActorPosts,
   Me,
 } from "@/lib/api";
-import { RemoteUserProfile } from "@/components/remote-user-profile";
 import { UserAvatar } from "@/components/user-avatar";
 import { Calendar, Settings } from "lucide-react";
 import { Card } from "@/components/ui/card";
@@ -30,28 +27,6 @@ export default async function ProfilePage({ params }: ProfilePageProps) {
   const { username } = await params;
   const token = (await cookies()).get("auth_token")?.value ?? null;
 
-  const HANDLE_RE = /^@[\w.-]+@[\w.-]+\.\w+$/;
-
-  if (HANDLE_RE.test(username)) {
-    const [actorResult, postsResult, meResult] = await Promise.allSettled([
-      lookupRemoteActor(username, token),
-      getRemoteActorPosts(username, 1, token),
-      token ? getMe(token) : Promise.resolve(null),
-    ]);
-
-    if (actorResult.status === "rejected") {
-      notFound();
-    }
-
-    const actor = actorResult.value as Awaited<ReturnType<typeof lookupRemoteActor>>;
-    const posts =
-      postsResult.status === "fulfilled" ? postsResult.value.items : [];
-    const me =
-      meResult.status === "fulfilled" ? (meResult.value as Me | null) : null;
-
-    return <RemoteUserProfile actor={actor} initialPosts={posts} me={me} />;
-  }
-
   const userProfilePromise = getUserProfile(username, token);
   const thoughtsPromise = getUserThoughts(username, token);
   const mePromise = token ? getMe(token) : Promise.resolve(null);
diff --git a/thoughts-frontend/components/remote-user-card.tsx b/thoughts-frontend/components/remote-user-card.tsx
index 1b199b0..a07f5e9 100644
--- a/thoughts-frontend/components/remote-user-card.tsx
+++ b/thoughts-frontend/components/remote-user-card.tsx
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ export function RemoteUserCard({ actor }: RemoteUserCardProps) {
   return (
     <div className="flex items-center justify-between p-4 border rounded-lg">
       <Link
-        href={`/users/${encodeURIComponent("@" + actor.handle)}`}
+        href={`/users/@${actor.handle}`}
         className="flex items-center gap-3 hover:opacity-80"
       >
         <UserAvatar src={actor.avatarUrl} alt={actor.displayName ?? actor.handle} />
diff --git a/thoughts-frontend/middleware.ts b/thoughts-frontend/middleware.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6d0186
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thoughts-frontend/middleware.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
+import type { NextRequest } from "next/server";
+
+export function middleware(request: NextRequest) {
+  const parts = request.nextUrl.pathname.split("/");
+
+  // /users/@user@instance or /users/%40user%40instance
+  if (parts.length === 3 && parts[1] === "users") {
+    const decoded = decodeURIComponent(parts[2]);
+    if (decoded.startsWith("@") && decoded.indexOf("@", 1) !== -1) {
+      const url = request.nextUrl.clone();
+      url.pathname = "/remote-actor";
+      url.searchParams.set("handle", decoded);
+      return NextResponse.rewrite(url);
+    }
+  }
+
+  return NextResponse.next();
+}
+
+export const config = {
+  matcher: "/users/:path*",
+};