diff --git a/packages/ws-relay/src/index.ts b/packages/ws-relay/src/index.ts
index 2ba2485..4bb7075 100644
--- a/packages/ws-relay/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/ws-relay/src/index.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import {
     decode,
     fromJS,
     isEmbedded,
+    parse,
     stringify,
     underlying,
     Embeddable,
@@ -434,10 +435,19 @@ export function unpackStandardRoute<R extends Embeddable>(route: E.StandardRoute
     });
 }
 
+// We support a couple of variations here: a string containing Base64-encoded machine-oriented
+// Preserves, or a string containing text-syntax Preserves.
 export function decodeStandardRoute(s: string): G.Route | null {
     try {
-        const route = E.toStandardRoute<Ref>(decode(
-            Bytes.fromBase64(s.replace(/[^-_+/A-Za-z0-9=]/g, ''))));
+        let routeValue: AnyValue;
+        // A valid text-syntax representation of a StandardRoute must start with
+        // either '[' or '<', neither of which is valid Base64.
+        if (s[0] === '[' || s[0] === '<') {
+            routeValue = parse(s);
+        } else {
+            routeValue = decode(Bytes.fromBase64(s.replace(/[^-_+/A-Za-z0-9=]/g, '')));
+        }
+        const route = E.toStandardRoute(routeValue);
         return route === void 0 ? null : unpackStandardRoute(route);
     } catch (e) {
         console.error('Decoding standard route:', e);