diff --git a/js/libphonenumber-util.js b/js/libphonenumber-util.js
index 22687f3a2..3bf13e29a 100644
--- a/js/libphonenumber-util.js
+++ b/js/libphonenumber-util.js
@@ -33,6 +33,14 @@
       }
     },
 
+    splitCountryCode: function(number) {
+        var parsedNumber = libphonenumber.parse(number);
+        return {
+            country_code: parsedNumber.values_[1],
+            national_number: parsedNumber.values_[2]
+        };
+    },
+
     getCountryCode: function(regionCode) {
       var cc = libphonenumber.getCountryCodeForRegion(regionCode);
       return (cc != 0) ? cc : "";
diff --git a/js/models/conversations.js b/js/models/conversations.js
index c5cf3b7ce..9682d6ba7 100644
--- a/js/models/conversations.js
+++ b/js/models/conversations.js
@@ -39,13 +39,15 @@
         var missing = _.filter(required, function(attr) { return !attributes[attr]; });
         if (missing.length) { return "Conversation must have " + missing; }
 
+        // hack
         if (this.get('type') === 'private') {
-            var number = libphonenumber.util.verifyNumber(id);
+            this.id = libphonenumber.util.verifyNumber(this.id);
+            var number = libphonenumber.util.splitCountryCode(this.id);
 
             this.set({
-                id: number,
-                international_number: libphonenumber.format(number, libphonenumber.PhoneNumberFormat.INTERNATIONAL),
-                national_number: libphonenumber.format(number, libphonenumber.PhoneNumberFormat.NATIONAL)
+                e164_number: this.id,
+                national_number: '' + number.national_number,
+                international_number: '' + number.country_code + number.national_number
             });
 
         }
diff --git a/js/views/new_conversation_view.js b/js/views/new_conversation_view.js
index 1dab6ba9d..0ad05d796 100644
--- a/js/views/new_conversation_view.js
+++ b/js/views/new_conversation_view.js
@@ -19,19 +19,15 @@ var Whisper = Whisper || {};
   'use strict';
 
   var typeahead = Backbone.TypeaheadCollection.extend({
-      typeaheadAttributes: ['name'],
+      typeaheadAttributes: [
+        'name',
+        'e164_number',
+        'national_number',
+        'international_number'
+      ],
       database: Whisper.Database,
       storeName: 'conversations',
-      model: Whisper.Conversation,
-
-      _tokenize: function(s) {
-          s = $.trim(s);
-          if (s.length === 0) {
-              return null;
-          }
-
-          return s.toLowerCase().split(/[\s\-_+]+/);
-      }
+      model: Whisper.Conversation
   });
 
   Whisper.NewConversationView = Backbone.View.extend({