diff --git a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/documentLinkProvider.ts b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/documentLinkProvider.ts
index 4ce792844a822..4d47465859149 100644
--- a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/documentLinkProvider.ts
+++ b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/documentLinkProvider.ts
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ const linkPattern = /(\[((!\[[^\]]*?\]\(\s*)([^\s\(\)]+?)\s*\)\]|(?:\\\]|[^\]])*
 /**
  * Matches `[text][ref]`
  */
-const referenceLinkPattern = /(?:(\[((?:\\\]|[^\]])+)\]\[\s*?)([^\s\]]*?)\]|\[\s*?([^\s\]]*?)\])(?!\:)/g;
+const referenceLinkPattern = /(?:(\[((?:\\\]|[^\]])+)\]\[\s*?)([^\s\]]*?)\]|\[\s*?([^\s\]]*?)\])(?![\:\(])/g;
 
 /**
  * Matches `[text]: link`
diff --git a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/references.ts b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/references.ts
index 87f06f8796fe6..c2d56f8e3fb66 100644
--- a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/references.ts
+++ b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/references.ts
@@ -106,12 +106,11 @@ export class MdReferencesProvider extends Disposable implements vscode.Reference
 
 		const references: MdReference[] = [];
 
-		const line = document.lineAt(header.line);
 		references.push({
 			kind: 'header',
 			isTriggerLocation: true,
 			isDefinition: true,
-			location: new vscode.Location(document.uri, new vscode.Range(header.line, 0, header.line, line.text.length)),
+			location: header.headerLocation,
 			headerTextLocation: header.headerTextLocation
 		});
 
diff --git a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/references.test.ts b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/references.test.ts
index 2454d1d6e3ff2..4b7f9532cec00 100644
--- a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/references.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/references.test.ts
@@ -71,6 +71,16 @@ suite('markdown: find all references', () => {
 		);
 	});
 
+	test('Should not return references when on link text', async () => {
+		const doc = new InMemoryDocument(workspacePath('doc.md'), joinLines(
+			`[ref](#abc)`,
+			`[ref]: http://example.com`,
+		));
+
+		const refs = await getReferences(doc, new vscode.Position(0, 1), new InMemoryWorkspaceMarkdownDocuments([doc]));
+		assert.deepStrictEqual(refs, []);
+	});
+
 	test('Should find references using normalized slug', async () => {
 		const doc = new InMemoryDocument(workspacePath('doc.md'), joinLines(
 			`# a B c`,
diff --git a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/rename.test.ts b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/rename.test.ts
index bdde011ad7549..e22453f3e0264 100644
--- a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/rename.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/rename.test.ts
@@ -245,4 +245,15 @@ suite('markdown: rename', () => {
 			]
 		});
 	});
+
+
+	test('Rename should not be supported on link text', async () => {
+		const uri = workspacePath('doc.md');
+		const doc = new InMemoryDocument(uri, joinLines(
+			`# Header`,
+			`[text](#header)`,
+		));
+
+		await assert.rejects(getRenameRange(doc, new vscode.Position(1, 2), new InMemoryWorkspaceMarkdownDocuments([doc])));
+	});
 });