diff --git a/app/controllers/publics_controller.rb b/app/controllers/publics_controller.rb
index 40d63498c..c097bfada 100644
--- a/app/controllers/publics_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/publics_controller.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ class PublicsController < ApplicationController
   end
 
   def webfinger
-    @user = Person.first(:email => params[:q][4...].gsub('acct:', '')]
+    @user = Person.first(:email => params[:q].gsub('acct:', '')]
     render 'webfinger', :layout => false, :content_type => 'application/xrd+xml'
   end