diff --git a/lib/marked.js b/lib/marked.js
index 1ecfc3ee8d..1fe8ba45ac 100644
--- a/lib/marked.js
+++ b/lib/marked.js
@@ -554,68 +554,9 @@ inline.normal = merge({}, inline);
 inline.pedantic = merge({}, inline.normal, {
   strong: /^__(?=\S)([\s\S]*?\S)__(?!_)|^\*\*(?=\S)([\s\S]*?\S)\*\*(?!\*)/,
   em: /^_(?=\S)([\s\S]*?\S)_(?!_)|^\*(?=\S)([\s\S]*?\S)\*(?!\*)/,
-  /* Original link re: /^!?\[(label)\]\(\s*<?([\s\S]*?)>?(?:\s+(['"][\s\S]*?['"]))?\s*\)/
-   * This captures the spec reasonably well but is vulnerable to REDOS.
-   * Instead we use a custom parser that follows the RegExp.exec semantics. */
-  link: {
-    exec: function (s) {
-      // [TEXT](DESTINATION)
-      var generalLinkRe = edit(/^!?\[(label)\]\((.*?)\)/)
-        .replace('label', inline._label)
-        .getRegex();
-
-      // destination: DESTINATION from generalLinkRe
-      // returns [destination, title]: no angle-brackets on destination, no quotes on title
-      function splitIntoDestinationAndTitle (destination) {
-        function unwrapAngleBrackets (str) {
-          if (str.match(/^<.*>$/)) {
-            str = str.slice(1, -1);
-          }
-          return str;
-        }
-
-        // Valid DESTINATIONs, in decreasing specificity.
-        var destinationAndTitleRe = /^([^'"(]*[^\s])\s+(['"(].*['")])/;
-        var destinationRe = /^(<?[\s\S]*>?)/;
-        var parsingRegexes = [destinationAndTitleRe, destinationRe];
-
-        var match = false;
-        for (var i = 0; i < parsingRegexes.length; i++) {
-          match = parsingRegexes[i].exec(destination);
-          if (match) {
-            break;
-          }
-        }
-
-        if (!match) {
-          return null;
-        }
-
-        var dest = match[1];
-        var title = match[2] || ''; // Not all parsingRegexes have 2 groups.
-
-        // Format dest.
-        dest = dest.trim();
-        dest = unwrapAngleBrackets(dest);
-
-        return [dest, title];
-      }
-
-      var fullMatch = generalLinkRe.exec(s);
-      if (!fullMatch) {
-        return null;
-      }
-
-      var text = fullMatch[1];
-      var destination = fullMatch[2];
-
-      var destinationAndTitle = splitIntoDestinationAndTitle(destination);
-      if (!destinationAndTitle) {
-        return null;
-      }
-      return [fullMatch[0], text, destinationAndTitle[0], destinationAndTitle[1]];
-    }
-  },
+  link: edit(/^!?\[(label)\]\((.*?)\)/)
+    .replace('label', inline._label)
+    .getRegex(),
   reflink: edit(/^!?\[(label)\]\s*\[([^\]]*)\]/)
     .replace('label', inline._label)
     .getRegex()
@@ -762,8 +703,19 @@ InlineLexer.prototype.output = function(src) {
       src = src.substring(cap[0].length);
       this.inLink = true;
       href = cap[2];
-      href = href[0] === '<' ? href.substring(1, href.length - 1) : href;
-      title = cap[3] ? cap[3].substring(1, cap[3].length - 1) : cap[3];
+      if (this.options.pedantic) {
+        link = /^([^'"]*[^\s])\s+(['"])(.*)\2/.exec(href);
+
+        if (link) {
+          href = link[1];
+          title = link[3];
+        } else {
+          title = '';
+        }
+      } else {
+        title = cap[3] ? cap[3].slice(1, -1) : '';
+      }
+      href = href.trim().replace(/^<([\s\S]*)>$/, '$1');
       out += this.outputLink(cap, {
         href: InlineLexer.escapes(href),
         title: InlineLexer.escapes(title)
diff --git a/test/new/link_lt.html b/test/new/link_lt.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ea48caa950
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/new/link_lt.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<p><a href="%3Ctest">URL</a></p>
diff --git a/test/new/link_lt.md b/test/new/link_lt.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f4f9adddc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/new/link_lt.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+[URL](<test)