diff --git a/webapp/channels/src/components/common/hooks/use_external_link.test.ts b/webapp/channels/src/components/common/hooks/use_external_link.test.ts
index d1688512f61..fbd99872e12 100644
--- a/webapp/channels/src/components/common/hooks/use_external_link.test.ts
+++ b/webapp/channels/src/components/common/hooks/use_external_link.test.ts
@@ -136,9 +136,31 @@ describe('useExternalLink', () => {
         expect(firstHref).toBe(secondHref);
         expect(firstParams).toBe(secondParams);
     });
+
     it('do not substitute %20 on query params', () => {
         const url = 'https://www.mattermost.com/some/url?subject=hello%20world';
         const {result: {current: [href]}} = renderHookWithContext(() => useExternalLink(url), getBaseState());
         expect(href).toContain('subject=hello%20world');
     });
+
+    it('do not error on invalid URLs', () => {
+        const invalidUrl = 'not a valid url';
+        const {result: {current: [href, queryParams]}} = renderHookWithContext(() => useExternalLink(invalidUrl), getBaseState());
+        expect(href).toBe(invalidUrl);
+        expect(queryParams).toEqual({});
+    });
+
+    it('do not modify arbitrary links that happen to include mattermost.com', () => {
+        const invalidUrl = 'https://example.com/mattermost.com';
+        const {result: {current: [href, queryParams]}} = renderHookWithContext(() => useExternalLink(invalidUrl), getBaseState());
+        expect(href).toBe(invalidUrl);
+        expect(queryParams).toEqual({});
+    });
+
+    it('do not modify mailto links on mattermost.com', () => {
+        const mailtoUrl = 'mailto:support@mattermost.com';
+        const {result: {current: [href, queryParams]}} = renderHookWithContext(() => useExternalLink(mailtoUrl), getBaseState());
+        expect(href).toBe(mailtoUrl);
+        expect(queryParams).toEqual({});
+    });
 });
diff --git a/webapp/channels/src/components/common/hooks/use_external_link.ts b/webapp/channels/src/components/common/hooks/use_external_link.ts
index 4e980a60cc6..b05606ea0cc 100644
--- a/webapp/channels/src/components/common/hooks/use_external_link.ts
+++ b/webapp/channels/src/components/common/hooks/use_external_link.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,17 @@ export type ExternalLinkQueryParams = {
     userId?: string;
 }
 
+/**
+ * useExternalLink is used when linking outside of the MM server to add extra tracking parameters when linking to any
+ * page on mattermost.com (such as our docs or marketing websites). When passed any URL that isn't on mattermost.com,
+ * it returns the original URL unmodified.
+ *
+ * @param href The external URL being linked to
+ * @param location The location of the link within the app
+ * @param overwriteQueryParams
+ * @return {[string, Record<string, string>]} A tuple containing the URL (whether or not it was modified) and all query
+ * parameters on that link (either pre-existing or added by this hook)
+ */
 export function useExternalLink(href: string, location: string = '', overwriteQueryParams: ExternalLinkQueryParams = {}): [string, Record<string, string>] {
     const userId = useSelector(getCurrentUserId);
     const config = useSelector(getConfig);
@@ -28,11 +39,20 @@ export function useExternalLink(href: string, location: string = '', overwriteQu
     const isCloud = useSelector((state: GlobalState) => getLicense(state)?.Cloud === 'true');
 
     return useMemo(() => {
-        if (!href?.includes('mattermost.com') || href?.startsWith('mailto:')) {
+        let parsedUrl;
+        try {
+            parsedUrl = new URL(href);
+        } catch {
             return [href, {}];
         }
 
-        const parsedUrl = new URL(href);
+        if (parsedUrl.hostname !== 'mattermost.com' && !parsedUrl.hostname.endsWith('.mattermost.com')) {
+            return [href, {}];
+        }
+
+        if (parsedUrl.protocol === 'mailto:') {
+            return [href, {}];
+        }
 
         // Determine edition type (enterprise vs team)
         const isEnterpriseReady = config?.BuildEnterpriseReady === 'true';