diff --git a/__tests__/brackets.test.js b/__tests__/brackets.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..356eba004
--- /dev/null
+++ b/__tests__/brackets.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { mdast, md } from '../index';
+
+describe('square brackets behavior', () => {
+  it('retains unmatched open brackets after a closed bracket (link reference)', () => {
+    const markdown = '[bar][bar';
+    expect(md(mdast(markdown))).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+      "[bar][bar
+      "
+    `);
+  });
+
+  it('leaves normal shortcut references followed by text untouched', () => {
+    const markdown = '[bar]bar';
+    expect(md(mdast(markdown))).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+      "[bar]bar
+      "
+    `);
+  });
+
+  it('parses consecutive square brackets as link references', () => {
+    const markdown = '[first][second]';
+    const tree = mdast(markdown);
+    const paragraph = tree.children[0];
+
+    expect(paragraph.children).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(paragraph.children[0].type).toBe('linkReference');
+    expect(paragraph.children[0].label).toBe('second');
+    expect(paragraph.children[0].children).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(paragraph.children[0].children[0].value).toBe('first');
+  });
+
+  it('does not affect code blocks', () => {
+    const markdown = '```\n[bar][bar\n```';
+    const tree = mdast(markdown);
+    expect(tree.children).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(tree.children[0]).toMatchObject({
+      type: 'code',
+      value: '[bar][bar',
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index a3e90c8c0..372c1f59a 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ const customCompilers = Object.values(require('./processor/compile'));
 const registerCustomComponents = require('./lib/registerCustomComponents');
 const { options, parseOptions } = require('./options');
 const { icons: calloutIcons } = require('./processor/parse/flavored/callout');
+const fixDanglingShortcutReferences = require('./processor/plugin/fix-dangling-shortcut-references');
 const toPlainText = require('./processor/plugin/plain-text');
 const sectionAnchorId = require('./processor/plugin/section-anchor-id');
 const tableFlattening = require('./processor/plugin/table-flattening');
@@ -117,6 +118,7 @@ export function processor(userOpts = {}) {
     .data('reusableContent', reusableContent)
     .use(!opts.correctnewlines ? remarkBreaks : () => {})
     .use(CustomParsers.map(parser => parser.sanitize?.(sanitize) || parser))
+    .use(fixDanglingShortcutReferences)
     .use(remarkTransformers)
     .use(remarkSlug)
     .use(remarkDisableTokenizers, opts.disableTokenizers);
diff --git a/processor/compile/dangling-shortcut-literal.js b/processor/compile/dangling-shortcut-literal.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e511622e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/compile/dangling-shortcut-literal.js
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+module.exports = function DanglingShortcutLiteralCompiler() {
+  const { Compiler } = this;
+  const { visitors } = Compiler.prototype;
+  const originalText = visitors.text;
+
+  visitors.text = function compileText(node, ...rest) {
+    if (node?.data?.danglingShortcutLiteral) return node.value;
+    return originalText.call(this, node, ...rest);
+  };
+};
diff --git a/processor/compile/index.js b/processor/compile/index.js
index fd111b06f..8a519b8e1 100644
--- a/processor/compile/index.js
+++ b/processor/compile/index.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ export { default as codeTabsCompiler } from './code-tabs';
 export { default as divCompiler } from './div';
 export { default as escapeCompiler } from './escape';
 export { default as figureCompiler } from './figure';
+export { default as danglingShortcutLiteralCompiler } from './dangling-shortcut-literal';
 export { default as gemojiCompiler } from './gemoji';
 export { default as htmlBlockCompiler } from './html-block';
 export { default as iconCompiler } from './i';
diff --git a/processor/plugin/fix-dangling-shortcut-references.js b/processor/plugin/fix-dangling-shortcut-references.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c18672816
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/plugin/fix-dangling-shortcut-references.js
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+const { visit } = require('unist-util-visit');
+
+const PROTECTED_PARENTS = new Set(['code', 'inlineCode', 'html', 'jsx']);
+
+// Resolve the readable label Remark inferred for the link reference.
+const labelFrom = node =>
+  node?.label ??
+  node?.identifier ??
+  (typeof node?.value === 'string' ? node.value : (node?.children || []).map(labelFrom).join(''));
+
+// Remark drops extra "[" characters when a shortcut link is immediately followed by another "["
+// (e.g. "[foo][bar"). This plugin visits the AST, looks for link references, and compares the
+// span denoted by the node with the original section to identify dropped [ characters.
+module.exports = function fixDanglingShortcutReferences() {
+  return tree => {
+    visit(tree, 'linkReference', (node, index, parent) => {
+      // Skip contexts where we should never mutate literals (code, inline code, raw HTML/JSX).
+      if (!parent?.children || PROTECTED_PARENTS.has(parent.type) || node.referenceType !== 'shortcut') return;
+
+      const next = parent.children[index + 1];
+      if (!next || next.type !== 'text') return; // Need the stray "[" token that Remark left as text.
+
+      const start = node.position?.start?.offset;
+      const end = node.position?.end?.offset;
+      if (typeof start !== 'number' || typeof end !== 'number') return;
+
+      const label = labelFrom(node);
+      const extraChars = end - start - (label.length + 2); // surrounding brackets
+      if (extraChars <= 0) return;
+
+      // Collapse the broken linkReference + following text into a plain text node that mirrors
+      // the original markdown literal, tagging it so the compiler can output it verbatim.
+      parent.children.splice(index, 2, {
+        type: 'text',
+        value: `[${label}]${'['.repeat(extraChars)}${next.value}`,
+        data: { danglingShortcutLiteral: true },
+        position: {
+          start: node.position.start,
+          end: next.position?.end || node.position.end,
+        },
+      });
+    });
+  };
+};