diff --git a/modules/ve-mw/init/ve.init.mw.Platform.js b/modules/ve-mw/init/ve.init.mw.Platform.js
index dfc87dca2b..1073f38cf0 100644
--- a/modules/ve-mw/init/ve.init.mw.Platform.js
+++ b/modules/ve-mw/init/ve.init.mw.Platform.js
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ ve.init.mw.Platform = function VeInitMwPlatform() {
 	ve.init.Platform.call( this );
 
 	// Properties
-	this.externalLinkUrlProtocolsRegExp = new RegExp( '^' + mw.config.get( 'wgUrlProtocols' ) );
+	this.externalLinkUrlProtocolsRegExp = new RegExp( '^(' + mw.config.get( 'wgUrlProtocols' ) + ')' );
 	this.modulesUrl = mw.config.get( 'wgExtensionAssetsPath' ) + '/VisualEditor/modules';
 	this.parsedMessages = {};
 	this.linkCache = new ve.init.mw.LinkCache();