diff --git a/bookwyrm/templatetags/utilities.py b/bookwyrm/templatetags/utilities.py
index 100de4dc2..42e67990f 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templatetags/utilities.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/templatetags/utilities.py
@@ -116,12 +116,12 @@ def get_isni(existing, author, autoescape=True):
 
 @register.simple_tag(takes_context=False)
 def id_to_username(user_id):
-    """given an arbitrary user id, return the username"""
+    """given an arbitrary remote id, return the username"""
     if user_id:
         url = urlparse(user_id)
         domain = url.netloc
         parts = url.path.split("/")
         name = parts[-1]
-        return f"{name}@{domain}"
-    else:
-        return None
+        value = f"{name}@{domain}"
+
+    return value