diff --git a/modules/say/say.sh b/modules/say/say.sh
index c08d665..6766234 100755
--- a/modules/say/say.sh
+++ b/modules/say/say.sh
@@ -28,13 +28,16 @@ if [[ "$channelName" == "$userName" ]]; then
     firstArg="$1"
     echo "DEBUG say.sh: PM context detected, firstArg='$firstArg'" >> "$log"
 
-    # Note: bot.sh strips "# " from commands, so #channel becomes just channel name
+    # Note: bot.sh strips "# " (hash-space) from commands, but "#channel" stays intact
+    # Remove # prefix if present for comparison
+    firstArgNoHash="${firstArg#\#}"
+
     # Check if first argument looks like a channel name (matches configured channels)
     isConnected=false
     targetChannel=""
 
     for configuredChannel in "${channels[@]}"; do
-        if [[ "$firstArg" == "$configuredChannel" ]]; then
+        if [[ "$firstArgNoHash" == "$configuredChannel" ]]; then
             isConnected=true
             targetChannel="$configuredChannel"
             break
@@ -52,9 +55,9 @@ if [[ "$channelName" == "$userName" ]]; then
     else
         # Check if first arg looks like it could be a channel name (not in our list)
         # If it contains no spaces and looks channel-ish, assume user specified wrong channel
-        if [[ "$firstArg" =~ ^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$ ]] && [[ ! "$firstArg" =~ [[:space:]] ]]; then
+        if [[ "$firstArgNoHash" =~ ^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$ ]] && [[ ! "$firstArgNoHash" =~ [[:space:]] ]]; then
             # Looks like a channel name but we're not connected
-            msg "$userName" "I am not connected to #$firstArg."
+            msg "$userName" "I am not connected to #$firstArgNoHash."
         else
             # No channel specified, broadcast to all channels
             for configuredChannel in "${channels[@]}"; do