diff --git a/server/src/newsreader.rs b/server/src/newsreader.rs
index de09fc0..7fe1c90 100644
--- a/server/src/newsreader.rs
+++ b/server/src/newsreader.rs
@@ -190,18 +190,8 @@ pub async fn thread(
     let slug = r.site.unwrap_or("no-slug".to_string());
     let site = r.name.unwrap_or("NO SITE".to_string());
     let default_homepage = "http://no-homepage";
-    let link = &r
-        .link
-        .as_ref()
-        .map(|h| {
-            if h.is_empty() {
-                default_homepage.to_string()
-            } else {
-                h.to_string()
-            }
-        })
-        .map(|h| Url::parse(&h).ok())
-        .flatten();
+    // TODO: remove the various places that have this as an Option
+    let link = Some(Url::parse(&r.link)?);
     let mut body = r.summary.unwrap_or("NO SUMMARY".to_string());
     let cacher = Arc::new(Mutex::new(FilesystemCacher::new(&config.slurp_cache_path)?));
     let body_tranformers: Vec<Box<dyn Transformer>> = vec![