diff --git a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/references.ts b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/references.ts
index c2d56f8e3fb..65db2003423 100644
--- a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/references.ts
+++ b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/references.ts
@@ -218,8 +218,8 @@ export class MdReferencesProvider extends Disposable implements vscode.Reference
 				}
 			} else { // Triggered on a link without a fragment so we only require matching the file and ignore fragments
 
-				// But exclude cases where the file is referencing itself
-				if (link.sourceResource.fsPath !== targetDoc.uri.fsPath) {
+				// But exclude cases where the file is implicitly referencing itself
+				if (!link.sourceText.startsWith('#') || link.sourceResource.fsPath !== targetDoc.uri.fsPath) {
 					references.push({
 						kind: 'link',
 						isTriggerLocation,
diff --git a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/rename.ts b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/rename.ts
index 19478795e65..66f05a2173d 100644
--- a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/rename.ts
+++ b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/rename.ts
@@ -56,7 +56,10 @@ export class MdRenameProvider extends Disposable implements vscode.RenameProvide
 						return triggerRef.link.sourceHrefRange;
 					}
 				} else {
-					return triggerRef.fragmentLocation?.range ?? triggerRef.location.range;
+					if (triggerRef.fragmentLocation) {
+						return triggerRef.fragmentLocation.range;
+					}
+					throw new Error(localize('renameNoFiles', "Renaming files is currently not supported"));
 				}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/references.test.ts b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/references.test.ts
index 4b7f9532cec..319fcec7817 100644
--- a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/references.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/references.test.ts
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ suite('markdown: find all references', () => {
 		const otherUri = workspacePath('sub', 'other.md');
 
 		const doc = new InMemoryDocument(docUri, joinLines(
-			`[other](./sub/other)`,
+			`[other](./sub/other)`, // trigger here
 		));
 
 		const refs = await getReferences(doc, new vscode.Position(0, 15), new InMemoryWorkspaceMarkdownDocuments([
@@ -328,6 +328,22 @@ suite('markdown: find all references', () => {
 		);
 	});
 
+	test('Should find explicit references to own file ', async () => {
+		const uri = workspacePath('doc.md');
+		const doc = new InMemoryDocument(uri, joinLines(
+			`[bare](doc.md)`, // trigger here
+			`[rel](./doc.md)`,
+			`[abs](/doc.md)`,
+		));
+
+		const refs = await getReferences(doc, new vscode.Position(0, 12), new InMemoryWorkspaceMarkdownDocuments([doc]));
+		assertReferencesEqual(refs!,
+			{ uri, line: 0 },
+			{ uri, line: 1 },
+			{ uri, line: 2 },
+		);
+	});
+
 	suite('Reference links', () => {
 		test('Should find reference links within file from link', async () => {
 			const docUri = workspacePath('doc.md');
diff --git a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/rename.test.ts b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/rename.test.ts
index e22453f3e02..3f92f70e8bd 100644
--- a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/rename.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/rename.test.ts
@@ -208,6 +208,52 @@ suite('markdown: rename', () => {
 		});
 	});
 
+	test('Rename on link in other file should pick up all refs', async () => {
+		const uri = workspacePath('doc.md');
+		const otherUri = workspacePath('other.md');
+		const doc = new InMemoryDocument(uri, joinLines(
+			`### A b C`,
+			`[text](#a-b-c)`,
+		));
+
+		const otherDoc = new InMemoryDocument(otherUri, joinLines(
+			`[text](#a-b-c)`,
+			`[text](./doc.md#a-b-c)`,
+			`[text](./doc#a-b-c)`
+		));
+
+		const expectedEdits = [
+			{
+				uri: uri, edits: [
+					new vscode.TextEdit(new vscode.Range(0, 4, 0, 9), 'New Header'),
+					new vscode.TextEdit(new vscode.Range(1, 8, 1, 13), 'new-header'),
+				]
+			}, {
+				uri: otherUri, edits: [
+					new vscode.TextEdit(new vscode.Range(1, 16, 1, 21), 'new-header'),
+					new vscode.TextEdit(new vscode.Range(2, 13, 2, 18), 'new-header'),
+				]
+			}
+		];
+
+		{
+			// Rename on header with file extension
+			const edit = await getRenameEdits(otherDoc, new vscode.Position(1, 17), "New Header", new InMemoryWorkspaceMarkdownDocuments([
+				doc,
+				otherDoc
+			]));
+			assertEditsEqual(edit!, ...expectedEdits);
+		}
+		{
+			// Rename on header without extension
+			const edit = await getRenameEdits(otherDoc, new vscode.Position(2, 15), "New Header", new InMemoryWorkspaceMarkdownDocuments([
+				doc,
+				otherDoc
+			]));
+			assertEditsEqual(edit!, ...expectedEdits);
+		}
+	});
+
 	test('Rename on ref should rename refs and def', async () => {
 		const uri = workspacePath('doc.md');
 		const doc = new InMemoryDocument(uri, joinLines(
@@ -246,7 +292,6 @@ suite('markdown: rename', () => {
 		});
 	});
 
-
 	test('Rename should not be supported on link text', async () => {
 		const uri = workspacePath('doc.md');
 		const doc = new InMemoryDocument(uri, joinLines(
@@ -256,4 +301,14 @@ suite('markdown: rename', () => {
 
 		await assert.rejects(getRenameRange(doc, new vscode.Position(1, 2), new InMemoryWorkspaceMarkdownDocuments([doc])));
 	});
+
+	test('Rename should not be supported on bare file references', async () => {
+		const uri = workspacePath('doc.md');
+		const doc = new InMemoryDocument(uri, joinLines(
+			`[text](./doc.md)`,
+			`[other](./doc.md)`,
+		));
+
+		await assert.rejects(getRenameRange(doc, new vscode.Position(0, 10), new InMemoryWorkspaceMarkdownDocuments([doc])));
+	});
 });