diff --git a/modules/reminder/reminder.sh b/modules/reminder/reminder.sh
index 0233c86..6be144a 100755
--- a/modules/reminder/reminder.sh
+++ b/modules/reminder/reminder.sh
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@
 [ -f functions.sh ] && source functions.sh
 
 userNick="$1"
-shift
-chan="$1"
-shift
+chan="$2"
+# $3 contains the entire argument string (e.g., "30s hello world")
+# We need to split it into time and message
+# shellcheck disable=SC2086
+set -- $3  # Intentionally unquoted to split into separate words
 time="$1"
 shift
 
@@ -46,18 +48,26 @@ if [[ -z "$*" ]]; then
   exit 0
 fi
 
-msg "$chan" "ok, $userNick, reminder in $time."
-reminderMessage="$*"
+# Convert message to array for easier parsing
+# shellcheck disable=SC2206
+msgArray=($*)
+targetNick="$userNick"  # Default target is the person who set the reminder
 
 # Handle 'tell' syntax for targeting other users
-if [[ "$reminderMessage" =~ ^[Tt]ell[[:space:]]+ ]]; then
-  targetNick="$(echo "${reminderMessage#[T|t]ell }" | cut -d ' ' -f1)"
-  # Validate nick doesn't contain invalid characters
-  if [[ "$targetNick" =~ ^[a-zA-Z0-9_\[\]\{\}\\|\`\^\-]+$ ]]; then
-    userNick="$targetNick"
-    reminderMessage="${reminderMessage#[Tt]ell }"
-    reminderMessage="${reminderMessage#* }"
-  fi
+if [[ "${msgArray[0],,}" == "tell" ]]; then
+  # Extract target nickname (second element, strip trailing punctuation)
+  extractedNick="${msgArray[1]}"
+  extractedNick="${extractedNick%:}"
+  extractedNick="${extractedNick%,}"
+
+  # Set target and rebuild message without "tell nickname"
+  targetNick="$extractedNick"
+  # Rebuild message from element 2 onward
+  reminderMessage="${msgArray[*]:2}"
+else
+  reminderMessage="$*"
 fi
 
-sleep "$timeInSeconds" && msg "$chan" "$userNick: $reminderMessage" &
+msg "$chan" "ok, $userNick, reminder in $time."
+
+sleep "$timeInSeconds" && msg "$chan" "$targetNick: $reminderMessage" &