diff --git a/src/models/PolicyList.ts b/src/models/PolicyList.ts
index af0981a..6a82e78 100644
--- a/src/models/PolicyList.ts
+++ b/src/models/PolicyList.ts
@@ -661,11 +661,17 @@ export class PolicyListManager {
         let roomId: string;
         let viaServers: string[];
         if (permalink.roomIdOrAlias.startsWith("!")) {
-            // get alias and then use alias to get via servers
+            // if we only have a room id, see if there's an alias we can use to get any possible
+            // via servers
             const alias = await this.mjolnir.client.getPublishedAlias(permalink.roomIdOrAlias)
-            const roomInformation = await this.mjolnir.client.lookupRoomAlias(alias)
-            roomId = permalink.roomIdOrAlias
-            viaServers = roomInformation.residentServers
+            if (alias) {
+                const roomInformation = await this.mjolnir.client.lookupRoomAlias(alias)
+                roomId = permalink.roomIdOrAlias
+                viaServers = roomInformation.residentServers
+            } else {
+                roomId = permalink.roomIdOrAlias
+                viaServers = permalink.viaServers
+            }
         } else {
             const roomInfo = await this.mjolnir.client.lookupRoomAlias(permalink.roomIdOrAlias)
             roomId = roomInfo.roomId