diff --git a/osu.Game.Tests/Chat/MessageFormatterTests.cs b/osu.Game.Tests/Chat/MessageFormatterTests.cs
index c0fc19356e..ecb37706b0 100644
--- a/osu.Game.Tests/Chat/MessageFormatterTests.cs
+++ b/osu.Game.Tests/Chat/MessageFormatterTests.cs
@@ -489,5 +489,23 @@ namespace osu.Game.Tests.Chat
             Assert.AreEqual(result.Links[2].Url, "\uD83D\uDE00");
             Assert.AreEqual(result.Links[3].Url, "\uD83D\uDE20");
         }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void TestAbsoluteExternalLinks()
+        {
+            LinkDetails result = MessageFormatter.GetLinkDetails("https://google.com");
+
+            Assert.AreEqual(LinkAction.External, result.Action);
+            Assert.AreEqual("https://google.com", result.Argument);
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void TestRelativeExternalLinks()
+        {
+            LinkDetails result = MessageFormatter.GetLinkDetails("/relative");
+
+            Assert.AreEqual(LinkAction.External, result.Action);
+            Assert.AreEqual("/relative", result.Argument);
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/osu.Game/Graphics/Containers/LinkFlowContainer.cs b/osu.Game/Graphics/Containers/LinkFlowContainer.cs
index 054febeec3..5ff2fdf6b2 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Graphics/Containers/LinkFlowContainer.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Graphics/Containers/LinkFlowContainer.cs
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Graphics.Containers
                 AddText(text[previousLinkEnd..link.Index]);
 
                 string displayText = text.Substring(link.Index, link.Length);
-                string linkArgument = link.Argument ?? link.Url;
+                string linkArgument = link.Argument;
                 string tooltip = displayText == link.Url ? null : link.Url;
 
                 AddLink(displayText, link.Action, linkArgument, tooltip);
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Graphics.Containers
             createLink(AddText(text, creationParameters), new LinkDetails(LinkAction.External, url), url);
 
         public void AddLink(string text, Action action, string tooltipText = null, Action<SpriteText> creationParameters = null)
-            => createLink(AddText(text, creationParameters), new LinkDetails(LinkAction.Custom, null), tooltipText, action);
+            => createLink(AddText(text, creationParameters), new LinkDetails(LinkAction.Custom, string.Empty), tooltipText, action);
 
         public void AddLink(string text, LinkAction action, string argument, string tooltipText = null, Action<SpriteText> creationParameters = null)
             => createLink(AddText(text, creationParameters), new LinkDetails(action, argument), tooltipText);
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Graphics.Containers
             createLink(spriteText.Yield(), new LinkDetails(action, argument), tooltipText);
         }
 
-        public void AddLink(IEnumerable<SpriteText> text, LinkAction action = LinkAction.External, string linkArgument = null, string tooltipText = null)
+        public void AddLink(IEnumerable<SpriteText> text, LinkAction action, string linkArgument, string tooltipText = null)
         {
             foreach (var t in text)
                 AddArbitraryDrawable(t);
diff --git a/osu.Game/Online/Chat/MessageFormatter.cs b/osu.Game/Online/Chat/MessageFormatter.cs
index c57fc732be..df14d7eb1c 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Online/Chat/MessageFormatter.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Online/Chat/MessageFormatter.cs
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
 
+#nullable enable
+
 namespace osu.Game.Online.Chat
 {
     public static class MessageFormatter
@@ -61,7 +63,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Online.Chat
 
         private static string websiteRootUrl = "osu.ppy.sh";
 
-        private static void handleMatches(Regex regex, string display, string link, MessageFormatterResult result, int startIndex = 0, LinkAction? linkActionOverride = null, char[] escapeChars = null)
+        private static void handleMatches(Regex regex, string display, string link, MessageFormatterResult result, int startIndex = 0, LinkAction? linkActionOverride = null, char[]? escapeChars = null)
         {
             int captureOffset = 0;
 
@@ -173,12 +175,12 @@ namespace osu.Game.Online.Chat
                         }
                     }
 
-                    return new LinkDetails(LinkAction.External, url);
+                    break;
 
                 case "osu":
                     // every internal link also needs some kind of argument
                     if (args.Length < 3)
-                        return new LinkDetails(LinkAction.External, null);
+                        break;
 
                     LinkAction linkType;
 
@@ -220,7 +222,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Online.Chat
                     return new LinkDetails(LinkAction.JoinMultiplayerMatch, args[1]);
             }
 
-            return new LinkDetails(LinkAction.External, null);
+            return new LinkDetails(LinkAction.External, url);
         }
 
         private static MessageFormatterResult format(string toFormat, int startIndex = 0, int space = 3)
diff --git a/osu.Game/OsuGame.cs b/osu.Game/OsuGame.cs
index b3b0773eff..c51624341e 100644
--- a/osu.Game/OsuGame.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/OsuGame.cs
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ namespace osu.Game
             {
                 case LinkAction.OpenBeatmap:
                     // TODO: proper query params handling
-                    if (link.Argument != null && int.TryParse(link.Argument.Contains('?') ? link.Argument.Split('?')[0] : link.Argument, out int beatmapId))
+                    if (int.TryParse(link.Argument.Contains('?') ? link.Argument.Split('?')[0] : link.Argument, out int beatmapId))
                         ShowBeatmap(beatmapId);
                     break;