diff --git a/deltachat-ffi/deltachat.h b/deltachat-ffi/deltachat.h
index 53896014f..992e0d4e1 100644
--- a/deltachat-ffi/deltachat.h
+++ b/deltachat-ffi/deltachat.h
@@ -318,9 +318,11 @@ char*           dc_get_blobdir               (const dc_context_t* context);
  *                    The library uses the `media_quality` setting to use different defaults
  *                    for recoding images sent with type DC_MSG_IMAGE.
  *                    If needed, recoding other file types is up to the UI.
- * - `webrtc_instance` = address to webrtc instance to use for videochats,
- *                    eg. a server as of https://github.com/cracker0dks/basicwebrtc.
- *                    Format: https://example.com/subdir#roomname=$ROOM
+ * - `webrtc_instance` = webrtc instance to use for videochats in the form
+ *                    `[basicwebrtc:]https://example.com/subdir#roomname=$ROOM`
+ *                    if the url is prefixed by `basicwebrtc`, the server is assumed to be of the type
+ *                    https://github.com/cracker0dks/basicwebrtc which some UIs have native support for.
+ *                    If no type is prefixed, the videochat is handled completely in a browser.
  *
  * If you want to retrieve a value, use dc_get_config().
  *
diff --git a/src/chat.rs b/src/chat.rs
index 09b9764e8..e1483128b 100644
--- a/src/chat.rs
+++ b/src/chat.rs
@@ -1619,22 +1619,24 @@ pub async fn send_videochat_invitation(context: &Context, chat_id: ChatId) -> Re
         chat_id
     );
 
-    let url = if let Some(webrtc_instance) = context.get_config(Config::WebrtcInstance).await {
-        webrtc_instance
+    let instance = if let Some(instance) = context.get_config(Config::WebrtcInstance).await {
+        instance
     } else {
         bail!("webrtc_instance not set");
     };
 
     let room = dc_create_id();
 
-    let url = if url.contains("$ROOM") {
-        url.replace("$ROOM", &room)
+    let instance = if instance.contains("$ROOM") {
+        instance.replace("$ROOM", &room)
     } else {
-        format!("{}{}", url, room)
+        format!("{}{}", instance, room)
     };
 
+    let url = instance.replace("basicwebrtc:", "");
+
     let mut msg = Message::new(Viewtype::VideochatInvitation);
-    msg.param.set(Param::VideochatUrl, &url);
+    msg.param.set(Param::WebrtcInstance, &instance);
     msg.text = Some(
         context
             .stock_string_repl_str(StockMessage::VideochatInviteMsgBody, url)
diff --git a/src/headerdef.rs b/src/headerdef.rs
index a3b079fe0..482a47ada 100644
--- a/src/headerdef.rs
+++ b/src/headerdef.rs
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ pub enum HeaderDef {
     ChatContent,
     ChatDuration,
     ChatDispositionNotificationTo,
-    ChatVideochatUrl,
+    ChatWebrtcInstance,
     Autocrypt,
     AutocryptSetupMessage,
     SecureJoin,
diff --git a/src/message.rs b/src/message.rs
index e8b3f6148..affdfa2c1 100644
--- a/src/message.rs
+++ b/src/message.rs
@@ -640,16 +640,20 @@ impl Message {
 
     pub async fn get_videochat_url(&self) -> Option<String> {
         if self.viewtype == Viewtype::VideochatInvitation {
-            self.param.get(Param::VideochatUrl).map(|s| s.to_string())
-        } else {
-            None
+            if let Some(instance) = self.param.get(Param::WebrtcInstance) {
+                return Some(instance.replace("basicwebrtc:", ""));
+            }
         }
+        None
     }
 
     pub fn is_basic_videochat(&self) -> bool {
-        // currently, all videochat-urls are of type basic-webrtc
-        self.viewtype == Viewtype::VideochatInvitation
-            && self.param.get(Param::VideochatUrl).is_some()
+        if self.viewtype == Viewtype::VideochatInvitation {
+            if let Some(instance) = self.param.get(Param::WebrtcInstance) {
+                return instance.starts_with("basicwebrtc:");
+            }
+        }
+        false
     }
 
     pub fn set_text(&mut self, text: Option<String>) {
diff --git a/src/mimefactory.rs b/src/mimefactory.rs
index 822f3ab97..7558ef523 100644
--- a/src/mimefactory.rs
+++ b/src/mimefactory.rs
@@ -881,10 +881,10 @@ impl<'a, 'b> MimeFactory<'a, 'b> {
                 "videochat-invitation".into(),
             ));
             protected_headers.push(Header::new(
-                "Chat-Videochat-Url".into(),
+                "Chat-Webrtc-Instance".into(),
                 self.msg
                     .param
-                    .get(Param::VideochatUrl)
+                    .get(Param::WebrtcInstance)
                     .unwrap_or_default()
                     .into(),
             ));
diff --git a/src/mimeparser.rs b/src/mimeparser.rs
index 5f3338804..7dc3e5766 100644
--- a/src/mimeparser.rs
+++ b/src/mimeparser.rs
@@ -245,10 +245,11 @@ impl MimeMessage {
     fn parse_videochat_headers(&mut self) {
         if let Some(value) = self.get(HeaderDef::ChatContent).cloned() {
             if value == "videochat-invitation" {
-                let url = self.get(HeaderDef::ChatVideochatUrl).cloned();
+                let instance = self.get(HeaderDef::ChatWebrtcInstance).cloned();
                 if let Some(part) = self.parts.first_mut() {
                     part.typ = Viewtype::VideochatInvitation;
-                    part.param.set(Param::VideochatUrl, url.unwrap_or_default());
+                    part.param
+                        .set(Param::WebrtcInstance, instance.unwrap_or_default());
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -1473,7 +1474,7 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(
             mimeparser.parts[0]
                 .param
-                .get(Param::VideochatUrl)
+                .get(Param::WebrtcInstance)
                 .unwrap_or_default(),
             "https://example.org/p2p/?roomname=6HiduoAn4xN"
         );
diff --git a/src/param.rs b/src/param.rs
index 8ccfd8bfc..f3681ebc3 100644
--- a/src/param.rs
+++ b/src/param.rs
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ pub enum Param {
     AttachGroupImage = b'A',
 
     /// For Messages
-    VideochatUrl = b'V',
+    WebrtcInstance = b'V',
 
     /// For Messages: space-separated list of messaged IDs of forwarded copies.
     ///
diff --git a/test-data/message/videochat_invitation.eml b/test-data/message/videochat_invitation.eml
index 2851dc319..9b4e35031 100644
--- a/test-data/message/videochat_invitation.eml
+++ b/test-data/message/videochat_invitation.eml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2020 14:28:30 +0000
 X-Mailer: Delta Chat Core 1.40.0/CLI
 Chat-Version: 1.0
 Chat-Content: videochat-invitation
-Chat-Videochat-Url: https://example.org/p2p/?roomname=6HiduoAn4xN
+Chat-Webrtc-Instance: https://example.org/p2p/?roomname=6HiduoAn4xN
 To: <tunis3@example.org>
 From: "=?utf-8?q??=" <tunis4@example.org>