diff --git a/src/irc/core/irc-servers-reconnect.c b/src/irc/core/irc-servers-reconnect.c
index 7ff72eac..f5ad9d6c 100644
--- a/src/irc/core/irc-servers-reconnect.c
+++ b/src/irc/core/irc-servers-reconnect.c
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ static int sig_set_user_mode(IRC_SERVER_REC *server)
 	if (mode == NULL) return 0;
 
 	newmode = server->usermode == NULL ? NULL :
-		modes_join(server->usermode, mode);
+		modes_join(server->usermode, mode, FALSE);
 
 	if (server->usermode == NULL) {
 		/* server didn't set user mode, just set the new one */
diff --git a/src/irc/core/irc-servers.c b/src/irc/core/irc-servers.c
index 5ce3b45e..c9884dd8 100644
--- a/src/irc/core/irc-servers.c
+++ b/src/irc/core/irc-servers.c
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ static int sig_set_user_mode(IRC_SERVER_REC *server)
 
 	mode = settings_get_str("usermode");
 	newmode = server->usermode == NULL ? NULL :
-		modes_join(server->usermode, mode);
+		modes_join(server->usermode, mode, FALSE);
 	if (server->usermode == NULL || strcmp(newmode, server->usermode) != 0)
 		irc_send_cmdv(server, "MODE %s %s", server->nick, mode);
 	g_free_not_null(newmode);
diff --git a/src/irc/core/modes.c b/src/irc/core/modes.c
index 057a9c4f..1d692867 100644
--- a/src/irc/core/modes.c
+++ b/src/irc/core/modes.c
@@ -297,8 +297,10 @@ void parse_channel_modes(IRC_CHANNEL_REC *channel, const char *setby,
 	g_string_free(newmode, TRUE);
 }
 
-/* add `mode' to `old' - return newly allocated mode. */
-char *modes_join(const char *old, const char *mode)
+/* add `mode' to `old' - return newly allocated mode.
+   `channel' specifies if we're parsing channel mode and we should try
+   to join mode arguments too. */
+char *modes_join(const char *old, const char *mode, int channel)
 {
 	GString *newmode;
 	char *dup, *modestr, *curmode, type;
@@ -317,7 +319,7 @@ char *modes_join(const char *old, const char *mode)
 			continue;
 		}
 
-		if (!HAS_MODE_ARG(type, *curmode))
+		if (!channel || !HAS_MODE_ARG(type, *curmode))
 			mode_set(newmode, type, *curmode);
 		else {
 			mode_set_arg(newmode, type, *curmode,
@@ -341,7 +343,7 @@ static void parse_user_mode(IRC_SERVER_REC *server, const char *modestr)
 	g_return_if_fail(IS_IRC_SERVER(server));
 	g_return_if_fail(modestr != NULL);
 
-	newmode = modes_join(server->usermode, modestr);
+	newmode = modes_join(server->usermode, modestr, FALSE);
 	oldmode = server->usermode;
 	server->usermode = newmode;
 	server->server_operator = (strchr(newmode, 'o') != NULL);
diff --git a/src/irc/core/modes.h b/src/irc/core/modes.h
index be318d94..2f007ec4 100644
--- a/src/irc/core/modes.h
+++ b/src/irc/core/modes.h
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@
 void modes_init(void);
 void modes_deinit(void);
 
-/* add `mode' to `old' - return newly allocated mode. */
-char *modes_join(const char *old, const char *mode);
+/* add `mode' to `old' - return newly allocated mode.
+   `channel' specifies if we're parsing channel mode and we should try
+   to join mode arguments too. */
+char *modes_join(const char *old, const char *mode, int channel);
 
 int channel_mode_is_set(IRC_CHANNEL_REC *channel, char mode);
 
diff --git a/src/perl/irc/Modes.xs b/src/perl/irc/Modes.xs
index ea26ceae..86cb0144 100644
--- a/src/perl/irc/Modes.xs
+++ b/src/perl/irc/Modes.xs
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 MODULE = Irssi::Irc	PACKAGE = Irssi::Irc
 
 char *
-modes_join(old, mode)
+modes_join(old, mode, channel)
 	char *old
 	char *mode
+        int channel
 
 #*******************************
 MODULE = Irssi::Irc	PACKAGE = Irssi::Irc::Server