diff --git a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/commands/openDocumentLink.ts b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/commands/openDocumentLink.ts
index 8e1dd8661b4..eed32d6efb0 100644
--- a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/commands/openDocumentLink.ts
+++ b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/commands/openDocumentLink.ts
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ export class OpenDocumentLinkCommand implements Command {
 	public execute(args: OpenDocumentLinkArgs) {
 		const p = decodeURIComponent(args.path);
 		return this.tryOpen(p, args).catch(() => {
-			if (extname(p) === '') {
+			if (p && extname(p) === '') {
 				return this.tryOpen(p + '.md', args);
 			}
 			const resource = vscode.Uri.file(p);
@@ -47,13 +47,14 @@ export class OpenDocumentLinkCommand implements Command {
 
 	private async tryOpen(path: string, args: OpenDocumentLinkArgs) {
 		const resource = vscode.Uri.file(path);
-		if (vscode.window.activeTextEditor && isMarkdownFile(vscode.window.activeTextEditor.document) && vscode.window.activeTextEditor.document.uri.fsPath === resource.fsPath) {
-			return this.tryRevealLine(vscode.window.activeTextEditor, args.fragment);
-		} else {
-			return vscode.workspace.openTextDocument(resource)
-				.then(vscode.window.showTextDocument)
-				.then(editor => this.tryRevealLine(editor, args.fragment));
+		if (vscode.window.activeTextEditor && isMarkdownFile(vscode.window.activeTextEditor.document)) {
+			if (!path || vscode.window.activeTextEditor.document.uri.fsPath === resource.fsPath) {
+				return this.tryRevealLine(vscode.window.activeTextEditor, args.fragment);
+			}
 		}
+		return vscode.workspace.openTextDocument(resource)
+			.then(vscode.window.showTextDocument)
+			.then(editor => this.tryRevealLine(editor, args.fragment));
 	}
 
 	private async tryRevealLine(editor: vscode.TextEditor, fragment?: string) {
diff --git a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/features/documentLinkProvider.ts b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/features/documentLinkProvider.ts
index c714e388257..f4e1bd0a9d2 100644
--- a/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/features/documentLinkProvider.ts
+++ b/extensions/markdown-language-features/src/features/documentLinkProvider.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ function normalizeLink(
 	const tempUri = vscode.Uri.parse(`vscode-resource:${link}`);
 
 	let resourcePath = tempUri.path;
-	if (!tempUri.path) {
+	if (!tempUri.path && document.uri.scheme === 'file') {
 		resourcePath = document.uri.path;
 	} else if (tempUri.path[0] === '/') {
 		const root = vscode.workspace.getWorkspaceFolder(document.uri);
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ function normalizeLink(
 			resourcePath = path.join(root.uri.fsPath, tempUri.path);
 		}
 	} else {
-		resourcePath = path.join(base, tempUri.path);
+		resourcePath = base ? path.join(base, tempUri.path) : tempUri.path;
 	}
 
 	return OpenDocumentLinkCommand.createCommandUri(resourcePath, tempUri.fragment);
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ export default class LinkProvider implements vscode.DocumentLinkProvider {
 		document: vscode.TextDocument,
 		_token: vscode.CancellationToken
 	): vscode.DocumentLink[] {
-		const base = path.dirname(document.uri.fsPath);
+		const base = document.uri.scheme === 'file' ? path.dirname(document.uri.fsPath) : '';
 		const text = document.getText();
 
 		return this.providerInlineLinks(text, document, base)