diff --git a/layouts/partials/shortcodes/link.html b/layouts/partials/shortcodes/link.html
index 465757dfdc..a4369078c3 100644
--- a/layouts/partials/shortcodes/link.html
+++ b/layouts/partials/shortcodes/link.html
@@ -7,45 +7,66 @@
 {{- if strings.HasPrefix $url "HAHAHUGOSHORTCODE" }}
   {{- warnf "%q: WARNING you must call the ref / relref shortcode with '%% %%' instead of '< >' to work correctly for the anchor target attribute" $page.File.Filename }}
 {{- end }}
+{{- $attributes := dict }}
 {{- $title := .title | default "" }}
 {{- $title = trim $title " " }}
+{{- $attributes = $attributes | merge (dict "title" $title) }}
 {{- $content := .content }}
 {{- $target := .target | default "" }}
-{{- if and (eq (len $target) 0) (or (strings.HasPrefix $url "http://") (strings.HasPrefix $url "https://") ) }}
+{{- $u := urls.Parse $url }}
+{{- $href := $u.String }}
+{{- $path := $u.Path }}
+{{- if $u.IsAbs }}
   {{- $target = "_blank" }}
   {{- if isset $page.Site.Params "externallinktarget" }}
     {{- $target = $page.Site.Params.externalLinkTarget }}
   {{- end }}
-{{- else }}
-  {{- $url = urls.Parse $url }}
-  {{- if and $url.Path (not (path.Ext $url.Path)) }}
-    {{- /* ignore old style links with  given extension */}}
-    {{- $found := false }}
-    {{- $fragment := "" }}
-    {{- with $url.Fragment }}
-      {{- $fragment = printf "#%s" . }}
-    {{- end }}
-    {{- $path := printf "%s/" (strings.TrimPrefix "/" (strings.TrimSuffix "/" $url.Path)) }}
-    {{- with $page.Page.GetPage (strings.TrimSuffix "/" $path | default "/") }}
-      {{- $url = printf "%s%s" (partial "relLangPrettyUglyURL.hugo" (dict "to" .)) $fragment }}
-      {{- $found = true }}
-    {{- else }}
-      {{- /* is it a link into another translation? */}}
+  {{- $attributes = $attributes | merge (dict "target" $target) }}
+{{- else if $path }}
+  {{- $linkPage := "" }}
+  {{- with or
+    ($page.Page.GetPage $path)
+    ($page.Page.Resources.Get $path)
+    (resources.Get $path)
+  }}
+    {{- $linkPage = . }}
+  {{- else }}
+    {{- /* is it a link into another translation? */}}
+    {{- if strings.HasPrefix $path "/" }}
       {{- range $page.Sites }}
         {{- $lang := .Language.Lang }}
-        {{- $prefix := printf "%s/" $lang }}
-        {{- if strings.HasPrefix $path $prefix }}
-          {{- $path = strings.TrimPrefix $prefix $path | default "/" }}
-          {{- with .GetPage (strings.TrimSuffix "/" $path | default "/") }}
-            {{- $url = printf "%s%s" (partial "relLangPrettyUglyURL.hugo" (dict "to" .)) $fragment }}
-            {{- $found = true }}
+        {{- $prefix := printf "/%s" $lang }}
+        {{- $suffix := strings.TrimPrefix $prefix $path | default "/" }}
+        {{- if and (strings.HasPrefix $path $prefix) (strings.HasPrefix $suffix "/") }}
+          {{- with or
+            (.GetPage $suffix)
+            (.Resources.Get $suffix)
+            (resources.Get $suffix)
+          }}
+            {{- $linkPage = . }}
+            {{- break }}
           {{- end }}
         {{- end }}
       {{- end }}
     {{- end }}
-    {{- if not $found }}
-      {{- warnf "%q: no page was found for link '%s'" $page.File.Filename $url.Path }}
-    {{- end }}
   {{- end }}
-{{- end -}}
-<a href="{{ $url | safeURL }}"{{ if $title }} title="{{ $title }}"{{ end }}{{ if gt (len $target) 0 }} target="{{ $target }}"{{ end }}>{{ $content | safeHTML }}</a>
\ No newline at end of file
+  {{- with $linkPage }}
+    {{- $href = partial "relLangPrettyUglyURL.hugo" (dict "to" .) }}
+    {{- with $u.RawQuery }}
+      {{- $href = printf "%s?%s" $href . }}
+    {{- end }}
+    {{- with $u.Fragment }}
+      {{- $href = printf "%s#%s" $href . }}
+    {{- end }}
+  {{- else }}
+    {{- warnf "%q: no page was found for link '%s'" $page.File.Filename $u.Path }}
+  {{- end }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- $attributes = $attributes | merge (dict "href" $href) -}}
+<a
+  {{- range $k, $v := $attributes }}
+    {{- if $v }}
+      {{- printf " %s=%q" $k $v | safeHTMLAttr }}
+    {{- end }}
+  {{- end -}}
+  >{{ $content | safeHTML }}</a>
\ No newline at end of file