diff --git a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
index 02fad11e9..a708c70b4 100644
--- a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
@@ -190,12 +190,23 @@ module ApplicationHelper
   def process_links(message)
     message.gsub!(/\[([^\[]+)\]\(([^ ]+) \"(([^&]|(&[^q])|(&q[^u])|(&qu[^o])|(&quo[^t])|(&quot[^;]))+)\"\)/) do |m|
       escape = "\\"
-      res    = "<a target=\"#{escape}_blank\" href=\"#{$2}\" title=\"#{$3}\">#{$1}</a>"
+      link = $1
+      url = $2
+      title = $3
+      url.gsub!("_", "\\_")
+      url.gsub!("*", "\\*")
+      protocol = (url =~ /^\w+:\/\//) ? '' :'http://'
+      res    = "<a target=\"#{escape}_blank\" href=\"#{protocol}#{url}\" title=\"#{title}\">#{link}</a>"
       res
     end
     message.gsub!(/\[([^\[]+)\]\(([^ ]+)\)/) do |m|
       escape = "\\"
-      res    = "<a target=\"#{escape}_blank\" href=\"#{$2}\">#{$1}</a>"
+      link = $1
+      url = $2
+      url.gsub!("_", "\\_")
+      url.gsub!("*", "\\*")
+      protocol = (url =~ /^\w+:\/\//) ? '' :'http://'
+      res    = "<a target=\"#{escape}_blank\" href=\"#{protocol}#{url}\">#{link}</a>"
       res
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/helpers/application_helper_spec.rb b/spec/helpers/application_helper_spec.rb
index 5b54bc9d1..440ccb025 100644
--- a/spec/helpers/application_helper_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/helpers/application_helper_spec.rb
@@ -166,12 +166,17 @@ describe ApplicationHelper do
         message = '[link text](http://someurl.com "some title") [link text](http://someurl.com "some title")'
         markdownify(message).should == '<a target="_blank" href="http://someurl.com" title="some title">link text</a> <a target="_blank" href="http://someurl.com" title="some title">link text</a>'
       end
+         
+      it "should have a robust link parsing" do
+        message = "This [*text*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_(literary_theory)) with many [links](google.com) tests [_http_](http://google.com/search?q=with_multiple__underscores*and**asterisks), [___FTP___](ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/CCC/26C3/mp4/26c3-3540-en-a_hackers_utopia.mp4 \"File Transfer Protocol\"), [**any protocol**](foo://bar.example.org/yes_it*makes*no_sense)"
+        markdownify(message).should == 'This <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_(literary_theory)"><em>text</em></a> with many <a target="_blank" href="http://google.com">links</a> tests <a target="_blank" href="http://google.com/search?q=with_multiple__underscores*and**asterisks"><em>http</em></a>, <a target="_blank" href="ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/CCC/26C3/mp4/26c3-3540-en-a_hackers_utopia.mp4" title="File Transfer Protocol"><em><strong>FTP</strong></em></a>, <a target="_blank" href="foo://bar.example.org/yes_it*makes*no_sense"><strong>any protocol</strong></a>'
+      end
     end
 
     describe "nested emphasis and links tags" do
       it "should be rendered correctly" do
         message = '[**some *link* text**](someurl.com "some title")'
-        markdownify(message).should == '<a target="_blank" href="someurl.com" title="some title"><strong>some <em>link</em> text</strong></a>'
+        markdownify(message).should == '<a target="_blank" href="http://someurl.com" title="some title"><strong>some <em>link</em> text</strong></a>'
       end
     end