diff --git a/src/components/views/elements/RoomTopic.tsx b/src/components/views/elements/RoomTopic.tsx
index 02a9bfe2d77c..9cbee3bdccad 100644
--- a/src/components/views/elements/RoomTopic.tsx
+++ b/src/components/views/elements/RoomTopic.tsx
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import MatrixClientContext from "../../../contexts/MatrixClientContext";
 import AccessibleButton from "./AccessibleButton";
 import TooltipTarget from "./TooltipTarget";
 import { Linkify, topicToHtml } from "../../../HtmlUtils";
+import { tryTransformPermalinkToLocalHref } from "../../../utils/permalinks/Permalinks";
 
 interface IProps extends React.HTMLProps<HTMLDivElement> {
     room: Room;
@@ -46,12 +47,27 @@ export default function RoomTopic({ room, ...props }: IProps): JSX.Element {
     const onClick = useCallback(
         (e: React.MouseEvent<HTMLDivElement>) => {
             props.onClick?.(e);
+
             const target = e.target as HTMLElement;
-            if (target.tagName.toUpperCase() === "A") {
+
+            if (target.tagName.toUpperCase() !== "A") {
+                dis.fire(Action.ShowRoomTopic);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            const anchor: HTMLLinkElement | null = e.target as HTMLLinkElement;
+
+            if (!anchor) {
                 return;
             }
 
-            dis.fire(Action.ShowRoomTopic);
+            const localHref = tryTransformPermalinkToLocalHref(anchor.href);
+
+            if (localHref !== anchor.href) {
+                // it could be converted to a localHref -> therefore handle locally
+                e.preventDefault();
+                window.location.hash = localHref;
+            }
         },
         [props],
     );
diff --git a/test/components/views/elements/RoomTopic-test.tsx b/test/components/views/elements/RoomTopic-test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6a9dfa53448e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/components/views/elements/RoomTopic-test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2023 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+import React from "react";
+import { Room } from "matrix-js-sdk/src/models/room";
+import { fireEvent, render, screen } from "@testing-library/react";
+
+import { mkEvent, stubClient } from "../../../test-utils";
+import { MatrixClientPeg } from "../../../../src/MatrixClientPeg";
+import RoomTopic from "../../../../src/components/views/elements/RoomTopic";
+
+describe("<RoomTopic/>", () => {
+    const originalHref = window.location.href;
+
+    afterEach(() => {
+        window.location.href = originalHref;
+    });
+
+    function runClickTest(topic, clickText, expectedHref) {
+        stubClient();
+
+        const room = new Room("!pMBteVpcoJRdCJxDmn:matrix.org", MatrixClientPeg.safeGet(), "@alice:example.org");
+        const topicEvent = mkEvent({
+            type: "m.room.topic",
+            room: "!pMBteVpcoJRdCJxDmn:matrix.org",
+            user: "@alice:example.org",
+            content: { topic },
+            ts: 123,
+            event: true,
+        });
+
+        room.addLiveEvents([topicEvent]);
+
+        render(<RoomTopic room={room} />);
+
+        fireEvent.click(screen.getByText(clickText));
+        expect(window.location.href).toEqual(expectedHref);        
+    }
+
+    it("should capture permalink clicks", () => {
+        const permalink = "https://matrix.to/#/!pMBteVpcoJRdCJxDmn:matrix.org/$K4Kg0fL-GKpW1EQ6lS36bP4eUXadWJFkdK_FH73Df8A?via=matrix.org";
+        const expectedHref = "http://localhost/#/room/!pMBteVpcoJRdCJxDmn:matrix.org/$K4Kg0fL-GKpW1EQ6lS36bP4eUXadWJFkdK_FH73Df8A?via=matrix.org";
+        runClickTest(`... ${permalink} ...`, permalink, expectedHref);
+    });
+
+    it("should not capture non-permalink clicks", () => {
+        const link = "https://matrix.org";
+        const expectedHref = originalHref;
+        runClickTest(`... ${link} ...`, link, expectedHref);
+    });
+});