diff --git a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/references.ts b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/references.ts
index ed1497dcab0..4e937a843f1 100644
--- a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/references.ts
+++ b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/languageFeatures/references.ts
@@ -135,7 +135,11 @@ export class MdReferencesProvider extends Disposable implements vscode.Reference
 					references.push(new vscode.Location(link.target.fromResource, link.sourceRange));
 				}
 			} else { // Triggered on a link without a fragment so we only require matching the file and ignore fragments
-				references.push(new vscode.Location(link.target.fromResource, link.sourceRange));
+
+				// But exclude cases where the file is referencing itself
+				if (link.target.fromResource.fsPath !== targetDoc.uri.fsPath) {
+					references.push(new vscode.Location(link.target.fromResource, link.sourceRange));
+				}
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/references.test.ts b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/references.test.ts
index 6c846fcc7fa..893273b37dc 100644
--- a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/references.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/test/references.test.ts
@@ -244,12 +244,33 @@ suite('markdown: find all references', () => {
 		]));
 
 		assertReferencesEqual(refs!,
-			{ uri: docUri, line: 0 }, // Header definition
+			{ uri: docUri, line: 0 },
 			{ uri: docUri, line: 1 },
 			{ uri: docUri, line: 2 },
 		);
 	});
 
+	test('Should not include refs from other file to own header', async () => {
+		const docUri = workspacePath('doc.md');
+		const otherUri = workspacePath('sub', 'other.md');
+
+		const doc = new InMemoryDocument(docUri, joinLines(
+			`[other](./sub/other)`,
+		));
+
+		const refs = await getReferences(doc, new vscode.Position(0, 15), new InMemoryWorkspaceMarkdownDocuments([
+			doc,
+			new InMemoryDocument(otherUri, joinLines(
+				`# header`, // Definition should not be included since we triggered on a file link
+				`[text](#header)`, // Definition should not be included since we triggered on a file link
+			)),
+		]));
+
+		assertReferencesEqual(refs!,
+			{ uri: docUri, line: 0 },
+		);
+	});
+
 	suite('Reference links', () => {
 		test('Should find reference links within file', async () => {
 			const docUri = workspacePath('doc.md');