diff --git a/js/Messages.js b/js/Messages.js
index 154d09618..4c21bc7f3 100644
--- a/js/Messages.js
+++ b/js/Messages.js
@@ -8,15 +8,15 @@ function getMessageDiv()
 	if(!msgArea)
 		return null;
 	if(!msgArea.hasChildNodes()) {
-		var btn = createTiddlyButton(createTiddlyElement(msgArea,"div",null,"messageArea__toolbar messageToolbar"),
-			'',
-			config.messages.messageClose.tooltip,
-			clearMessage,
+		var toolbar = createTiddlyElement(msgArea,"div",null,"messageArea__toolbar messageToolbar");
+		var btn = createTiddlyButton(toolbar, '', config.messages.messageClose.tooltip, clearMessage,
 			"button messageToolbar__button");
+
 		btn.innerHTML = '<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 10 10" class="messageToolbar__icon">'+
 		'	<rect width="1" height="13.1" x="4.5" y="-1.6" transform="rotate(-45 5 5)"/>'+
 		'	<rect width="1" height="13.1" x="4.5" y="-1.6" transform="rotate(+45 5 5)"/>'+
 		'</svg>';
+		// inline SVG is unsupported in old FireFox
 		if(window.HTMLUnknownElement && btn.firstChild instanceof window.HTMLUnknownElement) {
 			btn.innerHTML = config.messages.messageClose.text;
 		} else {
@@ -27,19 +27,17 @@ function getMessageDiv()
 	return createTiddlyElement(msgArea,"div",null,"messageArea__text");
 }
 
-function displayMessage(text,linkText)
+function displayMessage(text, link)
 {
 	var e = getMessageDiv();
 	if(!e) {
 		alert(text);
 		return;
 	}
-	if(linkText) {
-		var link = createTiddlyElement(e,"a",null,null,text);
-		link.href = linkText;
-		link.target = "_blank";
-	} else {
+	if(!link) {
 		e.appendChild(document.createTextNode(text));
+	} else {
+		createTiddlyElement(e,"a",null,null,text,{ href: link, target: "_blank" });
 	}
 }