diff --git a/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/timeline/parser/timeline.jison b/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/timeline/parser/timeline.jison
index 89bfd06f4..cb104b00a 100644
--- a/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/timeline/parser/timeline.jison
+++ b/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/timeline/parser/timeline.jison
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ accDescr\s*"{"\s*                                { this.begin("acc_descr_multili
 "section"\s[^:\n]+    return 'section';
 
 // event starting with "==>" keyword
-":"\s[^:\n]+        return 'event';
+":"\s(?:[^#:\n;]|":"(?!\s))+        return 'event';
 [^#:\n]+               return 'period';
 
 
diff --git a/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/timeline/timeline.spec.js b/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/timeline/timeline.spec.js
index a7005cada..e6c6619cc 100644
--- a/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/timeline/timeline.spec.js
+++ b/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/timeline/timeline.spec.js
@@ -75,6 +75,30 @@ describe('when parsing a timeline ', function () {
       });
     });
 
+    it('should handle a section, and task and its events including markdown link', function () {
+      let str = `timeline
+    section abc-123
+      task1: [event1](http://example.com)
+      task2: event2: event3
+   `;
+      timeline.parse(str);
+      expect(timelineDB.getSections()[0]).to.deep.equal('abc-123');
+      timelineDB.getTasks().forEach((t) => {
+        switch (t.task.trim()) {
+          case 'task1':
+            expect(t.events).to.deep.equal(['[event1](http://example.com)']);
+            break;
+
+          case 'task2':
+            expect(t.events).to.deep.equal(['event2', 'event3']);
+            break;
+
+          default:
+            break;
+        }
+      });
+    });
+
     it('should handle a section, and task and its multi line events', function () {
       let str = `timeline
     section abc-123