diff --git a/lib/utils/action-utils.js b/lib/utils/action-utils.js
--- a/lib/utils/action-utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils/action-utils.js
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
   CallServerEndpointOptions,
 } from './call-server-endpoint.js';
 import { getConfig } from './config.js';
+import { idWithKeyserverInfoRegex } from './validation-utils.js';
 import { serverCallStateSelector } from '../selectors/server-calls.js';
 import {
   logInActionSources,
@@ -35,6 +36,17 @@
 import type { ConnectionStatus } from '../types/socket-types.js';
 import type { CurrentUserInfo } from '../types/user-types.js';
 
+const keyserverIDfromIDRegex = '[0-9]+(?=\\|)';
+
+function extractKeyserverIDFromID(id: string): ?string {
+  if (!id.match(idWithKeyserverInfoRegex)) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const result = id.match(keyserverIDfromIDRegex);
+  return result ? result[0] : null;
+}
+
 let nextPromiseIndex = 0;
 
 export type ActionTypes<
@@ -460,4 +472,5 @@
   registerActiveSocket,
   useServerCall,
   bindCookieAndUtilsIntoCallServerEndpoint,
+  extractKeyserverIDFromID,
 };
diff --git a/lib/utils/action-utils.test.js b/lib/utils/action-utils.test.js
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/utils/action-utils.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+// @flow
+
+import { extractKeyserverIDFromID } from './action-utils.js';
+
+describe('extractKeyserverIDFromID', () => {
+  it('should return <keyserverID> for <keyserverID>|<number>', () => {
+    const keyserverID = '404';
+    const id = keyserverID + '|1234';
+    expect(extractKeyserverIDFromID(id)).toBe(keyserverID);
+  });
+  it('should return null if the id contains nonnumerical characters', () => {
+    const id1 = 'a256|1234';
+    expect(extractKeyserverIDFromID(id1)).toBe(null);
+    const id2 = '256|1234b';
+    expect(extractKeyserverIDFromID(id2)).toBe(null);
+    const id3 = '256|c1234';
+    expect(extractKeyserverIDFromID(id3)).toBe(null);
+  });
+  it("should return null if the id doesn't contain |", () => {
+    const id = '2561234';
+    expect(extractKeyserverIDFromID(id)).toBe(null);
+  });
+  it('should return null if the | is not between two numbers', () => {
+    const id1 = '2561234|';
+    expect(extractKeyserverIDFromID(id1)).toBe(null);
+    const id2 = '|2561234';
+    expect(extractKeyserverIDFromID(id2)).toBe(null);
+    const id3 = '2561234|a';
+    expect(extractKeyserverIDFromID(id3)).toBe(null);
+    const id4 = 'a|2561234';
+    expect(extractKeyserverIDFromID(id4)).toBe(null);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/lib/utils/validation-utils.js b/lib/utils/validation-utils.js
--- a/lib/utils/validation-utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils/validation-utils.js
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@
 const ashoatKeyserverID = '256';
 
 const idSchemaRegex = '(?:[0-9]+\\|)?[0-9]+';
+const idWithKeyserverInfoRegex = '^[0-9]+\\|[0-9]+$';
 
 const pendingThreadIDRegex = `pending/(type[0-9]+/[0-9]+(\\+[0-9]+)*|sidebar/${idSchemaRegex})`;
 
@@ -131,5 +132,6 @@
   assertWithValidator,
   ashoatKeyserverID,
   idSchemaRegex,
+  idWithKeyserverInfoRegex,
   pendingThreadIDRegex,
 };