diff --git a/evennia/commands/default/comms.py b/evennia/commands/default/comms.py
index b2f9b7535..ac1d22f39 100644
--- a/evennia/commands/default/comms.py
+++ b/evennia/commands/default/comms.py
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ class CmdDelCom(COMMAND_DEFAULT_CLASS):
             chkey = channel.key.lower()
             # find all nicks linked to this channel and delete them
             for nick in [nick for nick in make_iter(caller.nicks.get(category="channel", return_obj=True))
-                         if nick and nick.strvalue.lower() == chkey]:
+                         if nick and nick.value[3].lower() == chkey]:
                 nick.delete()
             disconnect = channel.disconnect(player)
             if disconnect:
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ class CmdChannels(COMMAND_DEFAULT_CLASS):
                 comtable.add_row(*["%s%s" % (chan.key, chan.aliases.all() and
                                   "(%s)" % ",".join(chan.aliases.all()) or ""),
                                   "%s" % ",".join(nick.db_key for nick in make_iter(nicks)
-                                  if nick and nick.strvalue.lower() == clower),
+                                  if nick and nick.value[3].lower() == clower),
                                   chan.db.desc])
             caller.msg("\n{wChannel subscriptions{n (use {w@channels{n to list all, {waddcom{n/{wdelcom{n to sub/unsub):{n\n%s" % comtable)
         else:
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ class CmdChannels(COMMAND_DEFAULT_CLASS):
                                   "%s%s" % (chan.key, chan.aliases.all() and
                                   "(%s)" % ",".join(chan.aliases.all()) or ""),
                                   "%s" % ",".join(nick.db_key for nick in make_iter(nicks)
-                                  if nick.strvalue.lower() == clower),
+                                  if nick.value[3].lower() == clower),
                                   str(chan.locks),
                                   chan.db.desc])
             caller.msg("\n{wAvailable channels{n (use {wcomlist{n,{waddcom{n and {wdelcom{n to manage subscriptions):\n%s" % comtable)
diff --git a/evennia/typeclasses/attributes.py b/evennia/typeclasses/attributes.py
index dd2fe6719..c864d857f 100644
--- a/evennia/typeclasses/attributes.py
+++ b/evennia/typeclasses/attributes.py
@@ -660,7 +660,7 @@ class NickHandler(AttributeHandler):
         """
         return super(NickHandler, self).has(key, category=category)
 
-    def get(self, key=None, category="inputline", **kwargs):
+    def get(self, key=None, category="inputline", return_tuple=False, **kwargs):
         """
         Get the replacement value matching the given key and category
 
@@ -671,10 +671,17 @@ class NickHandler(AttributeHandler):
             category (str, optional): the category within which to
                 retrieve the nick. The "inputline" means replacing data
                 sent by the user.
+            return_tuple (bool, optional): return the full nick tuple rather
+                than just the replacement. For non-template nicks this is just
+                a string.
             kwargs (any, optional): These are passed on to `AttributeHandler.get`.
 
         """
-        return super(NickHandler, self).get(key=key, category=category, **kwargs)
+        if return_tuple or "return_obj" in kwargs:
+            return super(NickHandler, self).get(key=key, category=category, **kwargs)
+        else:
+            retval = super(NickHandler, self).get(key=key, category=category, **kwargs)
+            return retval[3] if isinstance(retval, tuple) else [tup[3] for tup in make_iter(retval)]
 
     def add(self, key, replacement, category="inputline", **kwargs):
         """