diff --git a/Session/Utilities/MentionUtilities.swift b/Session/Utilities/MentionUtilities.swift
index 26d1fc05f..950076462 100644
--- a/Session/Utilities/MentionUtilities.swift
+++ b/Session/Utilities/MentionUtilities.swift
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ public enum MentionUtilities {
                 result.addAttribute(.currentUserMentionBackgroundCornerRadius, value: (8 * sizeDiff), range: mention.range)
                 result.addAttribute(.currentUserMentionBackgroundPadding, value: (3 * sizeDiff), range: mention.range)
                 result.addAttribute(.currentUserMentionBackgroundColor, value: primaryColor.color, range: mention.range)
+                result.addAttribute(.kern, value: (3 * sizeDiff), range: NSRange(location: mention.range.upperBound, length: 1))
             }
             
             switch (location, mention.isCurrentUser, theme.interfaceStyle) {
diff --git a/SessionUIKit/Components/HighlightMentionBackgroundView.swift b/SessionUIKit/Components/HighlightMentionBackgroundView.swift
index 289787c21..88076382a 100644
--- a/SessionUIKit/Components/HighlightMentionBackgroundView.swift
+++ b/SessionUIKit/Components/HighlightMentionBackgroundView.swift
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@ public class HighlightMentionBackgroundView: UIView {
 
         var origins = [CGPoint](repeating: .zero, count: lines.count)
         CTFrameGetLineOrigins(frame, CFRangeMake(0, 0), &origins)
+
+        var currentMentionBounds: CGRect? = nil  // Store mention bounding box
+        var lastMentionBackgroundColor: UIColor = .clear
+        var lastMentionBackgroundCornerRadius: CGFloat = 0
         
         for lineIndex in 0..<lines.count {
             let line = lines[lineIndex]
@@ -98,11 +102,21 @@ public class HighlightMentionBackgroundView: UIView {
                 let attributes: NSDictionary = CTRunGetAttributes(run)
                 
                 guard let mentionBackgroundColor: UIColor = attributes.value(forKey: NSAttributedString.Key.currentUserMentionBackgroundColor.rawValue) as? UIColor else {
+                    if let currentBounds = currentMentionBounds {
+                        // Draw a single background rectangle for the mention
+                        let path = UIBezierPath(roundedRect: currentBounds, cornerRadius: lastMentionBackgroundCornerRadius)
+                        lastMentionBackgroundColor.setFill()
+                        path.fill()
+                        currentMentionBounds = nil // Reset mention bounds
+                    }
+                    lastMentionBackgroundColor = .clear
                     continue
                 }
                 
+                lastMentionBackgroundColor = mentionBackgroundColor
                 let maybeCornerRadius: CGFloat? = (attributes
                     .value(forKey: NSAttributedString.Key.currentUserMentionBackgroundCornerRadius.rawValue) as? CGFloat)
+                lastMentionBackgroundCornerRadius = maybeCornerRadius ?? 0
                 let maybePadding: CGFloat? = (attributes
                     .value(forKey: NSAttributedString.Key.currentUserMentionBackgroundPadding.rawValue) as? CGFloat)
                 let padding: CGFloat = (maybePadding ?? 0)
@@ -115,12 +129,10 @@ public class HighlightMentionBackgroundView: UIView {
                 runBounds.size.height = (runAscent + runDescent + (padding * 2))
 
                 let xOffset: CGFloat = {
-                    switch CTRunGetStatus(run) {
-                        case .rightToLeft:
-                            return CTLineGetOffsetForStringIndex(line, range.location + range.length, nil)
-                            
-                        default:
-                            return CTLineGetOffsetForStringIndex(line, range.location, nil)
+                    if CTRunGetStatus(run).contains(.rightToLeft) {
+                        return CTLineGetOffsetForStringIndex(line, range.location + range.length, nil)
+                    } else {
+                        return CTLineGetOffsetForStringIndex(line, range.location, nil)
                     }
                 }()
                 
@@ -139,12 +151,23 @@ public class HighlightMentionBackgroundView: UIView {
                     runDescent -
                     extraYOffset
                 )
-                
-                let path = UIBezierPath(roundedRect: runBounds, cornerRadius: (maybeCornerRadius ?? 0))
-                mentionBackgroundColor.setFill()
-                path.fill()
+
+                if currentMentionBounds == nil {
+                    // Start tracking mention bounds
+                    currentMentionBounds = runBounds
+                } else {
+                    // Expand bounds to include this part of the mention
+                    currentMentionBounds = currentMentionBounds!.union(runBounds)
+                }
             }
         }
+
+        // Final mention draw (in case the loop ends with a mention active)
+        if let currentBounds = currentMentionBounds {
+            let path = UIBezierPath(roundedRect: currentBounds, cornerRadius: lastMentionBackgroundCornerRadius)
+            lastMentionBackgroundColor.setFill()
+            path.fill()
+        }
     }
 }