diff --git a/core/ui/src/main/java/org/phoebus/ui/web/HyperLinkRedirectListener.java b/core/ui/src/main/java/org/phoebus/ui/web/HyperLinkRedirectListener.java
index c58ffded03..4a35199555 100644
--- a/core/ui/src/main/java/org/phoebus/ui/web/HyperLinkRedirectListener.java
+++ b/core/ui/src/main/java/org/phoebus/ui/web/HyperLinkRedirectListener.java
@@ -81,11 +81,11 @@ public void changed(ObservableValue<? extends State> observable, State oldValue,
     private class HyperLinkRedirectEventListener implements EventListener {
         @Override
         public void handleEvent(Event event) {
+            event.preventDefault();
             HTMLAnchorElement anchorElement = (HTMLAnchorElement) event.getCurrentTarget();
             String href = anchorElement.getHref();
             try {
                 ApplicationService.createInstance("web", new URI(href));
-                event.preventDefault();
             } catch (Exception e) {
                 LOGGER.log(Level.SEVERE, "Failed to launch WebBrowserApplication", e);
             }