diff --git a/drupal/sites/default/boinc/themes/boinc/css/layout-fixed.css b/drupal/sites/default/boinc/themes/boinc/css/layout-fixed.css
index a750a502f4..32f32c78fa 100644
--- a/drupal/sites/default/boinc/themes/boinc/css/layout-fixed.css
+++ b/drupal/sites/default/boinc/themes/boinc/css/layout-fixed.css
@@ -176,6 +176,14 @@ body {
 #action-links a {
   color: #222;
 }
+#navigation li a.compound {
+  display: inline-block;
+  padding-right: 1px;
+}
+#navigation li a.compound.secondary {
+  padding-left: 0;
+  padding-right: 12px;
+}
 #navigation li a .item-count-wrapper {
   margin-left: 3px;
 }
diff --git a/drupal/sites/default/boinc/themes/boinc/template.php b/drupal/sites/default/boinc/themes/boinc/template.php
index 7dca110182..c624cc8705 100644
--- a/drupal/sites/default/boinc/themes/boinc/template.php
+++ b/drupal/sites/default/boinc/themes/boinc/template.php
@@ -95,8 +95,9 @@ function boinc_links__system_main_menu($links, $menu, $element) {
       if ($link['href'] == 'dashboard') {
         $item_count = privatemsg_unread_count();
         if ($item_count) {
-          $link['title'] .= ' <div class="item-count-wrapper"><span class="item-count">' . $item_count . '</span></div>';
+          $link['title'] .= '</a> <a href="/messages" class="compound secondary"><div class="item-count-wrapper"><span class="item-count">' . $item_count . '</span></div>';
           $link['html'] = TRUE;
+          $link['attributes']['class'] = 'compound';
         }
       }
     }