diff --git a/spec2md.py b/spec2md.py
index c2f9d581ec51e7f5d2fcbe129a63be814e6572ee..99c8429c8521fc4ce66b328f8ecfb21eb4eaad32 100644
--- a/spec2md.py
+++ b/spec2md.py
@@ -953,17 +953,19 @@ def processDocuments(documents:list[str],
 			#	Map internal references
 			#
 			_definitionExpression = re.compile(r'^[`]?\[([\d]+|i.[\d]+)\]([^`]*)[`]?')
-			_referenceExpression = re.compile(r'([^>])\[([\d]+|i.[\d]+)\](?!</a>)')
+			_referenceExpression = re.compile(r'([^>])\[([\d]+|i.[\d]+)\](?!</a>|\(#_ref_)')
 
 			for i in range(len(lines)):
 				line = lines[i]
 				if (m := _definitionExpression.match(line)) is not None:
-					lines[i] = f'- <a name="_ref_{m.group(1)}"[{m.group(1)}]">[{m.group(1)}]</a>{m.group(2)}'
+					# Use HTML anchor for definitions with span wrapper: <span id="_ref_1"><a name="_ref_1">[1]</a></span>
+					lines[i] = f'<span id="_ref_{m.group(1)}"></span><a name="_ref_{m.group(1)}">[{m.group(1)}]</a> {m.group(2).strip()}'
 			
 			def _repl(m:re.Match) -> str|None:
 				if m.group(1) == '"':
 					return None
-				return f'{m.group(1)}<a href="#_ref_{m.group(2)}">[{m.group(2)}]</a>'
+				# Use markdown link format: [\[1\]](#_ref_1)
+				return f'{m.group(1)}[\\[{m.group(2)}\\]](#_ref_{m.group(2)})'
 
 			for i in range(len(lines)):
 				line = lines[i]
@@ -1063,7 +1065,7 @@ def processDocuments(documents:list[str],
 						_print(f'Converting EMF file: {fn} to "{format}"', highlight = False)
 						if (res := subprocess.run(cmd, shell = True, capture_output = True)).returncode != 0:
 							_print(f'[red]Error running command: {res.stderr.decode("utf-8")}')
-							_print(f'[red]Please check the configuration file -> section "\[media]" for the converter command: {converter}')
+							_print(f'[red]Please check the configuration file -> section "[media]" for the converter command: {converter}')
 							break
 
 			if not skipImageConversion: