diff --git a/reme_studio/app/files-workspace/wikilinks.ts b/reme_studio/app/files-workspace/wikilinks.ts
index e0867075..d2ade3f8 100644
--- a/reme_studio/app/files-workspace/wikilinks.ts
+++ b/reme_studio/app/files-workspace/wikilinks.ts
@@ -114,40 +114,34 @@ export function remarkWikilinks(this: Processor) {
     const visit = (node: MarkdownNode) => {
       if (
         !node.children ||
-        ["link", "image", "code", "inlineCode"].includes(node.type)
+        [
+          "link",
+          "linkReference",
+          "image",
+          "imageReference",
+          "code",
+          "inlineCode",
+        ].includes(node.type)
       ) {
         literalize(node);
         return;
       }
-      node.children = node.children.flatMap((child) => {
-        if (
-          (child.type !== "text" && child.type !== "remeWikilink") ||
-          !child.value
-        ) {
+      node.children = node.children.map((child) => {
+        if (child.type !== "remeWikilink" || !child.value) {
           visit(child);
-          return [child];
+          return child;
         }
-        const parts: MarkdownNode[] = [];
-        let end = 0;
-        for (const match of child.value.matchAll(
-          /\[\[([^[\]|#\n]+?)(?:#[^[\]|\n]+)?(?:\|([^[\]\n]+))?\]\]/g,
-        )) {
-          const target = match[1].trim();
-          if (!target) continue;
-          parts.push({
-            type: "text",
-            value: child.value.slice(end, match.index),
-          });
-          parts.push({
-            type: "link",
-            url: `#reme-file=${encodeURIComponent(target)}`,
-            children: [{ type: "text", value: match[2]?.trim() || target }],
-          });
-          end = match.index + match[0].length;
+        const match = WIKILINK_PATTERN.exec(child.value);
+        if (!match?.[1].trim()) {
+          literalize(child);
+          return child;
         }
-        if (!end) return [child];
-        parts.push({ type: "text", value: child.value.slice(end) });
-        return parts;
+        const target = match[1].trim();
+        return {
+          type: "link",
+          url: `#reme-file=${encodeURIComponent(target)}`,
+          children: [{ type: "text", value: match[2]?.trim() || target }],
+        };
       });
     };
     visit(tree);
diff --git a/reme_studio/tests/wikilinks.test.mjs b/reme_studio/tests/wikilinks.test.mjs
index bb3dc7ee..bb793b92 100644
--- a/reme_studio/tests/wikilinks.test.mjs
+++ b/reme_studio/tests/wikilinks.test.mjs
@@ -30,6 +30,16 @@ function parse(content, wikilinks = true) {
   return processor.runSync(processor.parse(content));
 }
 
+function render(content, wikilinks = true) {
+  return renderToStaticMarkup(
+    createElement(
+      ReactMarkdown,
+      { remarkPlugins: wikilinks ? [remarkGfm, remarkWikilinks] : [remarkGfm] },
+      content,
+    ),
+  );
+}
+
 function links(tree) {
   return (
     tree.children?.flatMap((node) =>
@@ -72,17 +82,7 @@ test("code examples and existing Markdown links are not rewritten", () => {
     "`[[sample.md]]` and [See [[sample.md]]](https://example.com)",
     "![See [[sample.md]]](image.png)",
   ].join("\n");
-  const render = (plugins) =>
-    renderToStaticMarkup(
-      createElement(
-        ReactMarkdown,
-        {
-          remarkPlugins: plugins,
-        },
-        content,
-      ),
-    );
-  assert.equal(render([remarkGfm, remarkWikilinks]), render([remarkGfm]));
+  assert.equal(render(content), render(content, false));
 });
 
 test("malformed wikilinks leave normal Markdown parsing unchanged", () => {
@@ -107,3 +107,33 @@ test("wikilinks work beside ordinary emphasis and consecutive links", () => {
   assert.equal(tree.children[0].children[0].type, "strong");
   assert.equal(tree.children[0].children.at(-1).type, "emphasis");
 });
+
+test("reference links and images preserve literal wikilinks in their labels", () => {
+  for (const content of [
+    "[See [[sample.md]]][ref]\n\n[ref]: https://example.com",
+    "[See [[sample.md]]][REF]\n\n[ref]: https://example.com",
+    "![See [[sample.md]]][ref]\n\n[ref]: image.png",
+  ]) {
+    assert.equal(render(content), render(content, false));
+    assert.doesNotMatch(render(content), /#reme-file=/);
+  }
+});
+
+test("escaped brackets and character entities remain literal text", () => {
+  for (const content of [
+    String.raw`\[\[example.md\]\]`,
+    "[[example.md]]",
+    "[[example.md]]",
+    String.raw`\[[example.md]]`,
+  ]) {
+    assert.equal(render(content), render(content, false));
+    assert.equal(links(parse(content)).length, 0);
+  }
+  const mixed = String.raw`\[\[literal.md\]\] [[real.md]] [[entity.md]]`;
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    links(parse(mixed)).map((node) => node.url),
+    ["#reme-file=real.md"],
+  );
+  assert.match(render(mixed), /\[\[literal\.md\]\]/);
+  assert.match(render(mixed), /\[\[entity\.md\]\]/);
+});