diff --git a/autoload/vimwiki/markdown_base.vim b/autoload/vimwiki/markdown_base.vim
index 35de134..61e0530 100644
--- a/autoload/vimwiki/markdown_base.vim
+++ b/autoload/vimwiki/markdown_base.vim
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ endfunction
 function! s:normalize_link_syntax_v()
   let lnum = line('.')
   let sel_save = &selection
-  let &selection = "old"
+  let &selection = 'old'
   let rv = @"
   let rt = getregtype('"')
   let done = 0
@@ -120,10 +120,12 @@ function! s:normalize_link_syntax_v()
     let visual_selection = @"
     let link = s:safesubstitute(vimwiki#vars#get_syntaxlocal('Weblink1Template'),
           \ '__LinkUrl__', visual_selection, '')
-    let link = s:safesubstitute(link, '__LinkDescription__', visual_selection, '')
 
-    let sc = vimwiki#vars#get_wikilocal('links_space_char')
-    call setreg('"', substitute(substitute(link, '\n', '', ''), '\s', sc, 'g'), visualmode())
+    " replace spaces with new character if option is set
+    let link = substitute(link, '\s', vimwiki#vars#get_wikilocal('links_space_char'), 'g')
+
+    let link = s:safesubstitute(link, '__LinkDescription__', visual_selection, '')
+    call setreg('"', substitute(link, '\n', '', ''), visualmode())
 
     " paste result
     norm! `>""pgvd