diff --git a/Popups.hooks.php b/Popups.hooks.php
index 4944c8c98..e7d98a2f1 100644
--- a/Popups.hooks.php
+++ b/Popups.hooks.php
@@ -52,11 +52,13 @@ class PopupsHooks {
 	public static function onResourceLoaderRegisterModules( ResourceLoader $rl ) {
 		$moduleDependencies = array(
 			'mediawiki.api',
+			'mediawiki.Title',
 			'mediawiki.jqueryMsg',
 			'mediawiki.Uri',
 			'moment',
 			'jquery.jStorage',
 			'jquery.client',
+			'jquery.mwExtension',
 		);
 
 		// If EventLogging is present, add the schema as a dependency.
@@ -121,7 +123,10 @@ class PopupsHooks {
 	 */
 	public static function onResourceLoaderTestModules( array &$testModules, ResourceLoader &$resourceLoader ) {
 		$testModules['qunit']['ext.popups.tests'] = array(
-			'scripts' => array( 'tests/qunit/ext.popups.renderer.article.test.js' ),
+			'scripts' => array(
+				'tests/qunit/ext.popups.renderer.article.test.js',
+				'tests/qunit/ext.popups.core.test.js',
+			),
 			'dependencies' => array( 'ext.popups' ),
 			'localBasePath' => __DIR__,
 			'remoteExtPath' => 'Popups',
diff --git a/resources/ext.popups.core.js b/resources/ext.popups.core.js
index dbb454f2d..7ae47d53a 100644
--- a/resources/ext.popups.core.js
+++ b/resources/ext.popups.core.js
@@ -145,21 +145,63 @@
 		} );
 	};
 
+	/**
+	 * Given an href string for the local wiki, return the title, or undefined if
+	 * the link is external, has extra query parameters, or contains no title.
+	 *
+	 * Note that the returned title is not sanitized (may contain underscores).
+	 *
+	 * @param {string} href
+	 * @return {string|undefined}
+	 */
+	mw.popups.getTitle = function ( href ) {
+		var title, titleRegex, matches,
+			linkHref = new mw.Uri( href );
+
+		// External links
+		if ( linkHref.host !== location.hostname ) {
+			return undefined;
+		}
+
+		if ( linkHref.query.hasOwnProperty( 'title' ) ) {
+			// linkHref is not a pretty URL, e.g. /w/index.php?title=Foo
+
+			title = linkHref.query.title;
+			// Return undefined if there are query parameters other than title
+			delete linkHref.query.title;
+			return $.isEmptyObject( linkHref.query ) ? title : undefined;
+		} else {
+			// linkHref is a pretty URL, e.g. /wiki/Foo
+
+			// Return undefined if there are any query parameters
+			if ( !$.isEmptyObject( linkHref.query ) ) {
+				return undefined;
+			}
+			titleRegex = new RegExp( $.escapeRE( mw.config.get( 'wgArticlePath' ) )
+				.replace( '\\$1', '(.+)' ) );
+			matches = titleRegex.exec( linkHref.path );
+			return matches ? decodeURIComponent( matches[1] ) : undefined;
+		}
+	};
+
 	/**
 	 * Returns links that can have Popups
 	 *
 	 * @method selectPopupElements
 	 */
 	mw.popups.selectPopupElements = function () {
+		var contentNamespaces = mw.config.get( 'wgContentNamespaces' );
 		return mw.popups.$content
 			.find( 'a[href][title]:not(' + mw.popups.IGNORE_CLASSES.join(', ') + ')' )
 			.filter( function () {
-				var linkHref = new mw.Uri( this.href ),
-					expectedHref = new mw.Uri( mw.util.getUrl( this.title ) );
-
-				// don't compare fragment to display popups on anchored page links
-				linkHref.fragment = undefined;
-				return linkHref.toString() === expectedHref.toString();
+				var title,
+					titleText = mw.popups.getTitle( this.href );
+				if ( !titleText ) {
+					return false;
+				}
+				// Is titleText in a content namespace?
+				title = mw.Title.newFromText( titleText );
+				return title && ( $.inArray( title.namespace, contentNamespaces ) >= 0 );
 			} );
 	};
 
diff --git a/resources/ext.popups.renderer.article.js b/resources/ext.popups.renderer.article.js
index 5e2a7903f..507f75689 100644
--- a/resources/ext.popups.renderer.article.js
+++ b/resources/ext.popups.renderer.article.js
@@ -32,9 +32,8 @@
 	 * @return {jQuery.Promise}
 	 */
 	article.init = function ( link ) {
-		var
-			href = link.attr( 'href' ),
-			title = link.data( 'title' ),
+		var href = link.attr( 'href' ),
+			title = mw.popups.getTitle( href ),
 			deferred = $.Deferred();
 
 		if ( !title ) {
diff --git a/tests/qunit/ext.popups.core.test.js b/tests/qunit/ext.popups.core.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..301cab836
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qunit/ext.popups.core.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+( function ( $, mw ) {
+
+	QUnit.module( 'ext.popups.core', QUnit.newMwEnvironment( {
+		config: {
+			wgArticlePath: '/wiki/$1'
+		}
+	} ) );
+
+	QUnit.test( 'getTitle', function ( assert ) {
+		var cases, i, expected, actual;
+
+		QUnit.expect( 10 );
+		cases = [
+			[ '/wiki/Foo', 'Foo' ],
+			[ '/wiki/Foo#Bar', 'Foo' ],
+			[ '/wiki/Foo?oldid=1', undefined ],
+			[ '/wiki/%E6%B8%AC%E8%A9%A6', '測試' ],
+			[ '/w/index.php?title=Foo', 'Foo' ],
+			[ '/w/index.php?title=Foo#Bar', 'Foo' ],
+			[ '/w/Foo?title=Foo&action=edit', undefined ],
+			[ '/w/index.php?title=%E6%B8%AC%E8%A9%A6', '測試' ],
+			[ '/w/index.php?oldid=1', undefined ],
+			[ '/Foo', undefined ]
+		];
+
+		for ( i = 0; i < cases.length; i++ ) {
+			expected = cases[i][1];
+			actual = mw.popups.getTitle( cases[i][0] );
+			assert.equal( actual, expected );
+		}
+	} );
+
+} ) ( jQuery, mediaWiki );
diff --git a/tests/qunit/ext.popups.renderer.article.test.js b/tests/qunit/ext.popups.renderer.article.test.js
index 0e33c9439..6c735f077 100644
--- a/tests/qunit/ext.popups.renderer.article.test.js
+++ b/tests/qunit/ext.popups.renderer.article.test.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ( function ( $, mw ) {
 
-	QUnit.module( 'ext.popups' );
+	QUnit.module( 'ext.popups.renderer.article', QUnit.newMwEnvironment() );
+
 	QUnit.test( 'render.article.getProcessedElements', function ( assert ) {
 		QUnit.expect( 13 );