diff --git a/code/controllers/subsystem/chat.dm b/code/controllers/subsystem/chat.dm
index bbeb0683f0..ba2794d00f 100644
--- a/code/controllers/subsystem/chat.dm
+++ b/code/controllers/subsystem/chat.dm
@@ -31,19 +31,13 @@ SUBSYSTEM_DEF(chat)
 
 	//Some macros remain in the string even after parsing and fuck up the eventual output
 	var/original_message = message
-	message = replacetext(message, "\improper", "")
-	message = replacetext(message, "\proper", "")
-	if(handle_whitespace)
-		message = replacetext(message, "\n", "<br>")
-		message = replacetext(message, "\t", "[FOURSPACES][FOURSPACES]")
-	if (trailing_newline)
-		message += "<br>"
 
 	//url_encode it TWICE, this way any UTF-8 characters are able to be decoded by the Javascript.
 	//Do the double-encoding here to save nanoseconds
-	var/twiceEncoded = url_encode(url_encode(message))
+	var/twiceEncoded
 
 	if(islist(target))
+		var/sanitized_message = FALSE
 		for(var/I in target)
 			var/client/C = CLIENT_FROM_VAR(I) //Grab us a client if possible
 
@@ -55,6 +49,17 @@ SUBSYSTEM_DEF(chat)
 
 			if(!C?.chatOutput || C.chatOutput.broken) //A player who hasn't updated his skin file.
 				continue
+				
+			if(!sanitized_message)
+				message = replacetext(message, "\improper", "")
+				message = replacetext(message, "\proper", "")
+				if(handle_whitespace)
+					message = replacetext(message, "\n", "<br>")
+					message = replacetext(message, "\t", "[FOURSPACES][FOURSPACES]")
+				if (trailing_newline)
+					message += "<br>"
+				twiceEncoded = url_encode(url_encode(message))
+				sanitized_message = TRUE
 
 			if(!C.chatOutput.loaded) //Client still loading, put their messages in a queue
 				C.chatOutput.messageQueue += message
@@ -74,6 +79,15 @@ SUBSYSTEM_DEF(chat)
 		if(!C?.chatOutput || C.chatOutput.broken) //A player who hasn't updated his skin file.
 			return
 
+		message = replacetext(message, "\improper", "")
+		message = replacetext(message, "\proper", "")
+		if(handle_whitespace)
+			message = replacetext(message, "\n", "<br>")
+			message = replacetext(message, "\t", "[FOURSPACES][FOURSPACES]")
+		if (trailing_newline)
+			message += "<br>"
+		twiceEncoded = url_encode(url_encode(message))
+
 		if(!C.chatOutput.loaded) //Client still loading, put their messages in a queue
 			C.chatOutput.messageQueue += message
 			return