diff --git a/src/actions.cpp b/src/actions.cpp
index eb78dd8..3693cd6 100644
--- a/src/actions.cpp
+++ b/src/actions.cpp
@@ -1754,10 +1754,7 @@ namespace quickbook
 
         if (self_linked_headers && state.document.compatibility_version() >= 103)
         {
-            state.out << "<link linkend=\"" << full_id << "\">"
-                << content.get_encoded()
-                << "</link>"
-                ;
+            state.out << quickbook::detail::linkify(content.get_encoded(), full_id);
         }
         else
         {
diff --git a/src/id_xml.cpp b/src/id_xml.cpp
index 40f07f6..1b65417 100644
--- a/src/id_xml.cpp
+++ b/src/id_xml.cpp
@@ -150,4 +150,127 @@ namespace quickbook
 
         c.finish(source);
     }
+
+    namespace detail {
+        std::string linkify(quickbook::string_view source, quickbook::string_view linkend)
+        {
+            typedef quickbook::string_view::const_iterator iterator;
+
+            std::string result;
+
+            iterator it = source.begin(), end = source.end();
+
+            int link_depth = 0;
+            iterator start = it;
+            read_some_of(it, end, " \t\n\r");
+            result.append(start, it);
+            start = it;
+            // If the source is empty, we'll still create an empty link tag
+            // to avoid gratuitous changes in generated output, need to track
+            // that special case.
+            bool empty = true;
+
+            for(;;)
+            {
+                read_to_one_of(it, end, "<");
+                if (it == end) break;
+                iterator tag_start = it;
+                ++it;
+                if (it == end) break;
+
+                if (read(it, end, "!--quickbook-escape-prefix-->"))
+                {
+                    read_past(it, end, "<!--quickbook-escape-postfix-->");
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                switch(*it)
+                {
+                case '?':
+                    ++it;
+                    read_past(it, end, "?>");
+                    break;
+
+                case '!':
+                    if (read(it, end, "!--")) {
+                        read_past(it, end, "-->");
+                    } else {
+                        read_past(it, end, ">");
+                    }
+                    break;
+
+                case '/':
+                    {
+                        ++it;
+                        read_some_of(it, end, " \t\n\r");
+                        if (it == end) { break; }
+                        iterator tag_name_start = it;
+                        read_to_one_of(it, end, " \t\n\r>");
+                        quickbook::string_view tag_name(tag_name_start, it - tag_name_start);
+                        read_past(it, end, ">");
+
+                        if (tag_name == "link") {
+                            if (link_depth > 0) { --link_depth; }
+                            if (link_depth == 0) {
+                                read_some_of(it, end, " \t\n\r");
+                                result.append(start, it);
+                                start = it;
+                                empty = false;
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                    break;
+
+                default:
+                    if ((*it >= 'a' && *it <= 'z') ||
+                            (*it >= 'A' && *it <= 'Z') ||
+                            *it == '_' || *it == ':')
+                    {
+                        iterator tag_name_start = it;
+                        read_to_one_of(it, end, " \t\n\r>");
+                        quickbook::string_view tag_name(tag_name_start, it - tag_name_start);
+
+                        if (tag_name == "link") {
+                            if (link_depth == 0 && start != tag_start) {
+                                result += "<link linkend=\"";
+                                result .append(linkend.begin(), linkend.end());
+                                result += "\">";
+                                result.append(start, tag_start);
+                                result += "</link>";
+                                start = tag_start;
+                                empty = false;
+                            }
+                            ++link_depth;
+                        }
+
+                        for (;;) {
+                            read_to_one_of(it, end, "\"'\n\r>");
+                            if (it == end || *it == '>') break;
+                            if (*it == '"' || *it == '\'') {
+                                char delim = *it;
+                                ++it;
+                                it = std::find(it, end, delim);
+                                if (it == end) break;
+                                ++it;
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        read_past(it, end, ">");
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (start != it || empty) {
+                result += "<link linkend=\"";
+                result.append(linkend.begin(), linkend.end());
+                result += "\">";
+                result.append(start, it);
+                result += "</link>";
+            }
+
+            return result;
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/utils.hpp b/src/utils.hpp
index 93e7ed1..86163cf 100644
--- a/src/utils.hpp
+++ b/src/utils.hpp
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ namespace quickbook { namespace detail {
     inline std::string to_s(quickbook::string_view x) {
         return std::string(x.begin(), x.end());
     }
+
+    // Defined in id_xml.cpp. Just because.
+    std::string linkify(quickbook::string_view source, quickbook::string_view linkend);
 }}
 
 #endif // BOOST_SPIRIT_QUICKBOOK_UTILS_HPP
diff --git a/test/section-1_7.gold b/test/section-1_7.gold
index 33c6767..4071386 100644
--- a/test/section-1_7.gold
+++ b/test/section-1_7.gold
@@ -23,4 +23,11 @@
   <section id="section_id_1_7.sect-abc">
     <title><link linkend="section_id_1_7.sect-abc">Section with template in id</link></title>
   </section>
+  <section id="section_id_1_7.link_section_id_1_7_id_test1_lin">
+    <title><link linkend="section_id_1_7.id_test1">Link in title</link></title>
+  </section>
+  <section id="section_id_1_7.link_section_id_1_7_id_test1_li0">
+    <title><link linkend="section_id_1_7.id_test1">Link</link> <link linkend="section_id_1_7.link_section_id_1_7_id_test1_li0">in
+    title</link></title>
+  </section>
 </article>
diff --git a/test/section-1_7.quickbook b/test/section-1_7.quickbook
index ada95a2..9c8baeb 100644
--- a/test/section-1_7.quickbook
+++ b/test/section-1_7.quickbook
@@ -16,3 +16,8 @@
 [template thing[] abc]
 [section:sect-[thing] Section with template in id]
 [endsect]
+
+[section [link section_id_1_7.id_test1 Link in title]]
+[endsect]
+[section [link section_id_1_7.id_test1 Link] in title]
+[endsect]
diff --git a/test/unit/Jamfile.v2 b/test/unit/Jamfile.v2
index a7a3de0..f828b53 100644
--- a/test/unit/Jamfile.v2
+++ b/test/unit/Jamfile.v2
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ run values_test.cpp ../../src/values.cpp ../../src/files.cpp ;
 run post_process_test.cpp ../../src/post_process.cpp ;
 run source_map_test.cpp ../../src/files.cpp ;
 run glob_test.cpp ../../src/glob.cpp ;
+run linkify_test.cpp ../../src/id_xml.cpp ;
 # TODO: Reinstate this test? Too painful to run at the moment.
 # run file_path_to_url_test.cpp ../../src/native_text.cpp ../../src/utils.cpp ;
 
diff --git a/test/unit/linkify_test.cpp b/test/unit/linkify_test.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e597e7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/linkify_test.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+
+/*=============================================================================
+    Copyright (c) 2017 Daniel James
+
+    Use, modification and distribution is subject to the Boost Software
+    License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at
+    http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)
+=============================================================================*/
+
+#include "utils.hpp"
+#include <boost/detail/lightweight_test.hpp>
+
+#include <iostream>
+
+void linkify_test() {
+    using quickbook::detail::linkify;
+
+    BOOST_TEST(linkify("abc", "link") == "<link linkend=\"link\">abc</link>");
+    BOOST_TEST(linkify("<link linkend=\"something\">abc</link>", "link") ==
+        "<link linkend=\"something\">abc</link>");
+    BOOST_TEST(linkify("abc <link linkend=\"something\">def</link>", "link") ==
+        "<link linkend=\"link\">abc </link><link linkend=\"something\">def</link>");
+    BOOST_TEST(linkify("<link linkend=\"something\">abc</link> def", "link") ==
+        "<link linkend=\"something\">abc</link> <link linkend=\"link\">def</link>");
+}
+
+int main() {
+    linkify_test();
+    return boost::report_errors();
+}