diff --git a/ios/inputParser/InputParser.mm b/ios/inputParser/InputParser.mm
index f27cecda..d73f7a27 100644
--- a/ios/inputParser/InputParser.mm
+++ b/ios/inputParser/InputParser.mm
@@ -598,9 +598,12 @@ - (NSArray *)getTextAndStylesFromHtml:(NSString *)fixedHtml {
       [styleArr addObject:@([InlineCodeStyle getStyleType])];
     } else if([tagName isEqualToString:@"a"]) {
       [styleArr addObject:@([LinkStyle getStyleType])];
-      // cut only the url from the href="..." string
-      NSString *url = [params substringWithRange:NSMakeRange(6, params.length - 7)];
-      stylePair.styleValue = url;
+      NSRange hrefRange = [params rangeOfString:@"href="];
+      stylePair.styleValue = @"";
+      if(hrefRange.location != NSNotFound) {
+        NSString *url = [params substringWithRange:NSMakeRange(6, params.length - 7)];
+        stylePair.styleValue = url;
+      }
     } else if([tagName isEqualToString:@"mention"]) {
       [styleArr addObject:@([MentionStyle getStyleType])];
       // extract html expression into dict using some regex