diff --git a/include/items.php b/include/items.php
index a0dd1c8159..87aaeaa323 100755
--- a/include/items.php
+++ b/include/items.php
@@ -2931,8 +2931,10 @@ function atom_entry($item,$type,$author,$owner,$comment = false,$cid = 0) {
 	if(strlen($item['owner-name']))
 		$o .= atom_author('dfrn:owner',$item['owner-name'],$item['owner-link'],80,80,$item['owner-avatar']);
 
-	if(($item['parent'] != $item['id']) || ($item['parent-uri'] !== $item['uri']))
-		$o .= '<thr:in-reply-to ref="' . xmlify($item['parent-uri']) . '" type="text/html" href="' .  xmlify($a->get_baseurl() . '/display/' . $owner['nickname'] . '/' . $item['parent']) . '" />' . "\r\n";
+	if(($item['parent'] != $item['id']) || ($item['parent-uri'] !== $item['uri'])) {
+		$parent_item = (($item['thr-parent']) ? $item['thr-parent'] : $item['parent-uri']);
+		$o .= '<thr:in-reply-to ref="' . xmlify($parent_item) . '" type="text/html" href="' .  xmlify($a->get_baseurl() . '/display/' . $owner['nickname'] . '/' . $item['parent']) . '" />' . "\r\n";
+	}
 
 	$o .= '<id>' . xmlify($item['uri']) . '</id>' . "\r\n";
 	$o .= '<title>' . xmlify($item['title']) . '</title>' . "\r\n";