diff --git a/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/InlineLinkGeneratingProvider.kt b/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/InlineLinkGeneratingProvider.kt
index 97fb565f72d9..b34fed988c9c 100644
--- a/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/InlineLinkGeneratingProvider.kt
+++ b/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/InlineLinkGeneratingProvider.kt
@@ -9,13 +9,10 @@ import org.intellij.markdown.parser.LinkMap
 
 internal class InlineLinkGeneratingProvider : LinkGeneratingProvider() {
   override fun getRenderInfo(text: String, node: ASTNode): RenderInfo? {
-    val label = node.findChildOfType(MarkdownElementTypes.LINK_TEXT)
-                ?: return null
+    val label = node.findChildOfType(MarkdownElementTypes.LINK_TEXT) ?: return null
     return RenderInfo(
       label,
-      node.findChildOfType(MarkdownElementTypes.LINK_DESTINATION)?.getTextInNode(text)?.let {
-        LinkMap.normalizeDestination(it, true)
-      } ?: "",
+      node.findChildOfType(MarkdownElementTypes.LINK_DESTINATION)?.getTextInNode(text) ?: "",
       node.findChildOfType(MarkdownElementTypes.LINK_TITLE)?.getTextInNode(text)?.let {
         LinkMap.normalizeTitle(it)
       }
diff --git a/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/IntelliJImageGeneratingProvider.kt b/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/IntelliJImageGeneratingProvider.kt
index 6fad25021801..7521d0333839 100644
--- a/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/IntelliJImageGeneratingProvider.kt
+++ b/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/IntelliJImageGeneratingProvider.kt
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 // Copyright 2000-2021 JetBrains s.r.o. and contributors. Use of this source code is governed by the Apache 2.0 license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 package org.intellij.plugins.markdown.ui.preview.html.links
 
-import com.intellij.openapi.util.SystemInfo
-import com.intellij.openapi.util.text.StringUtil
 import org.intellij.markdown.MarkdownElementTypes
 import org.intellij.markdown.ast.ASTNode
 import org.intellij.markdown.ast.findChildOfType
@@ -38,11 +36,10 @@ internal class IntelliJImageGeneratingProvider(linkMap: LinkMap) : LinkGeneratin
   }
 
   override fun renderLink(visitor: HtmlGenerator.HtmlGeneratingVisitor, text: String, node: ASTNode, info: RenderInfo) {
-    val url = if (SystemInfo.isWindows) StringUtil.replace(info.destination.toString(), "%5C", "/") else info.destination.toString()
     visitor.consumeTagOpen(
       node,
       "img",
-      "src=\"$url\"",
+      "src=\"${info.destination}\"",
       "alt=\"${getPlainTextFrom(info.label, text)}\"",
       info.title?.let { "title=\"$it\"" },
       "$generatedAttributeName=\"true\"",
diff --git a/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/LinkGeneratingProvider.kt b/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/LinkGeneratingProvider.kt
index 8197bde9aa8b..647c963aacb9 100644
--- a/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/LinkGeneratingProvider.kt
+++ b/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/LinkGeneratingProvider.kt
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import org.intellij.markdown.ast.ASTNode
 import org.intellij.markdown.html.GeneratingProvider
 import org.intellij.markdown.html.HtmlGenerator
 import org.intellij.markdown.html.TransparentInlineHolderProvider
+import org.intellij.markdown.parser.LinkMap
 
 internal abstract class LinkGeneratingProvider: GeneratingProvider {
   override fun processNode(visitor: HtmlGenerator.HtmlGeneratingVisitor, text: String, node: ASTNode) {
@@ -13,7 +14,8 @@ internal abstract class LinkGeneratingProvider: GeneratingProvider {
   }
 
   open fun renderLink(visitor: HtmlGenerator.HtmlGeneratingVisitor, text: String, node: ASTNode, info: RenderInfo) {
-    visitor.consumeTagOpen(node, "a", "href=\"${info.destination}\"", info.title?.let { "title=\"$it\"" })
+    val destination = info.destination.let { LinkMap.normalizeDestination(it, true) }
+    visitor.consumeTagOpen(node, "a", "href=\"$destination\"", info.title?.let { "title=\"$it\"" })
     labelProvider.processNode(visitor, text, info.label)
     visitor.consumeTagClose("a")
   }
diff --git a/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/ReferenceLinksGeneratingProvider.kt b/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/ReferenceLinksGeneratingProvider.kt
index 4608cc001818..1e274b74c39d 100644
--- a/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/ReferenceLinksGeneratingProvider.kt
+++ b/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/html/links/ReferenceLinksGeneratingProvider.kt
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package org.intellij.plugins.markdown.ui.preview.html.links
 
 import org.intellij.markdown.MarkdownElementTypes
 import org.intellij.markdown.ast.ASTNode
+import org.intellij.markdown.ast.findChildOfType
 import org.intellij.markdown.ast.getTextInNode
 import org.intellij.markdown.html.entities.EntityConverter
 import org.intellij.markdown.parser.LinkMap
@@ -12,9 +13,10 @@ internal class ReferenceLinksGeneratingProvider(private val linkMap: LinkMap): L
     val label = node.children.firstOrNull { it.type == MarkdownElementTypes.LINK_LABEL } ?: return null
     val linkInfo = linkMap.getLinkInfo(label.getTextInNode(text)) ?: return null
     val linkTextNode = node.children.firstOrNull { it.type == MarkdownElementTypes.LINK_TEXT }
+    val destination = linkInfo.node.findChildOfType(MarkdownElementTypes.LINK_DESTINATION)?.getTextInNode(text) ?: ""
     return RenderInfo(
       linkTextNode ?: label,
-      EntityConverter.replaceEntities(linkInfo.destination, true, true),
+      destination,
       linkInfo.title?.let { EntityConverter.replaceEntities(it, true, true) }
     )
   }
diff --git a/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/jcef/impl/IncrementalDOMBuilder.kt b/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/jcef/impl/IncrementalDOMBuilder.kt
index fd616beb2060..5933bd254387 100644
--- a/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/jcef/impl/IncrementalDOMBuilder.kt
+++ b/plugins/markdown/core/src/org/intellij/plugins/markdown/ui/preview/jcef/impl/IncrementalDOMBuilder.kt
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import com.intellij.openapi.diagnostic.thisLogger
 import com.intellij.openapi.progress.ProgressManager
 import com.intellij.openapi.util.SystemInfo
 import com.intellij.openapi.util.io.FileUtil
+import com.intellij.openapi.util.text.StringUtil
 import com.intellij.openapi.vfs.VfsUtilCore
 import com.intellij.openapi.vfs.VirtualFile
 import org.intellij.plugins.markdown.ui.preview.PreviewStaticServer
@@ -114,12 +115,15 @@ class IncrementalDOMBuilder(
 
   private fun actuallyProcessImageNode(node: Node, baseFile: VirtualFile, projectRoot: VirtualFile) {
     var path = node.attr("src")
+    if (SystemInfo.isWindows) {
+      path = StringUtil.replace(path, "\\", "/")
+    }
     if (!path.startsWith('/')) {
       val resolved = baseFile.findFileByRelativePath(path) ?: return
       path = VfsUtilCore.getRelativePath(resolved, projectRoot) ?: path
     }
     if (SystemInfo.isWindows && path.startsWith("/")) {
-      path = path.trimStart('/', '\\')
+      path = path.trimStart('/')
     }
     val fixedPath = FileUtil.toSystemIndependentName(path)
     if (fileSchemeResourceProcessor != null) {