diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/server/docs.js b/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/server/docs.js
index 3602ded6aa10..d443ee63c6be 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/server/docs.js
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/server/docs.js
@@ -72,8 +72,60 @@ function mdToHtmlify(oldContent, mdToHtml, metadata, siteConfig) {
       const docsSource = metadata.version
         ? metadata.source.replace(/version-.*?\//, '')
         : metadata.source;
-      let htmlLink =
-        mdToHtml[resolve(docsSource, mdMatch[1])] || mdToHtml[mdMatch[1]];
+
+      let htmlLink;
+
+      if (readMetadata.shouldGenerateNextReleaseDocs()) {
+        htmlLink =
+          mdToHtml[resolve(docsSource, mdMatch[1])] || mdToHtml[mdMatch[1]];
+      } else {
+        /**
+         * When the very first version is created, all source/markdown files from next release docs
+         * are copied to the directory corresponding to that version. For subsequent versiones being
+         * created, source/markdown files are copied to the corresponding version directory, if and
+         * only if that file had changed in the next release docs. This is how the source files are
+         * maintained when versions are created.
+         *
+         * During build time those files that were not copied to the versioned docs source, are copied
+         * to the build output.
+         *
+         * When `--skip-next-release` build option is used, we need to verify whether the target file path
+         * exists with the "versioned docs" or at the next release docs. If it does, that file will be
+         * available in the build output and the link will be valid. So, update the link from `.md` to
+         * `.html` accordingly.
+         */
+        const originalFilePath = metadata.original_id.match('.+/')
+          ? metadata.original_id.match('.+/')[0]
+          : '';
+
+        const targetFileAtVersionedDoc =
+          'versioned_docs/version-' +
+          metadata.version +
+          '/' +
+          resolve(docsSource, mdMatch[1]);
+
+        const targetFileAtRoot =
+          '../' + siteConfig.docsUrl + '/' + originalFilePath + mdMatch[1];
+
+        if (
+          fs.existsSync(targetFileAtVersionedDoc) ||
+          fs.existsSync(targetFileAtRoot)
+        ) {
+          if (siteConfig.cleanUrl) {
+            htmlLink = docsSource.endsWith('index.md')
+              ? mdMatch[1].replace('.md', '.html')
+              : '../' + mdMatch[1].replace('.md', '.html');
+          } else {
+            htmlLink = mdMatch[1].replace('.md', '.html');
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      /**
+       * If there is a valid target link, sanitize the URL according to various configuration
+       * options such as: `clearnUrl`, versions, language, etc. Otherwise, store the target so
+       * that it can be reported as a broken link.
+       */
       if (htmlLink) {
         htmlLink = getPath(htmlLink, siteConfig.cleanUrl);
         htmlLink = htmlLink.replace('/en/', `/${metadata.language}/`);
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/server/metadataUtils.js b/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/server/metadataUtils.js
index 77eaff9ec672..528b7994f6e9 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/server/metadataUtils.js
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/server/metadataUtils.js
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ function mdToHtml(Metadata, siteConfig) {
   const result = {};
   Object.keys(Metadata).forEach(id => {
     const metadata = Metadata[id];
-    if (metadata.language !== 'en' || metadata.original_id) {
+    if (metadata.language !== 'en') {
       return;
     }
     let htmlLink = baseUrl + metadata.permalink.replace('/next/', '/');
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/server/readMetadata.js b/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/server/readMetadata.js
index 70ded9b2ba37..abac23986568 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/server/readMetadata.js
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/server/readMetadata.js
@@ -405,4 +405,5 @@ module.exports = {
   processMetadata,
   generateMetadataDocs,
   generateMetadataBlog,
+  shouldGenerateNextReleaseDocs,
 };