diff --git a/.agents/skills/docs-governance/scripts/markdown_links.py b/.agents/skills/docs-governance/scripts/markdown_links.py
index 213f9b4f7..9f875444e 100644
--- a/.agents/skills/docs-governance/scripts/markdown_links.py
+++ b/.agents/skills/docs-governance/scripts/markdown_links.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ INLINE_LINK_START_RE = re.compile(r"\[[^\]\n]*\]\(")
 REFERENCE_DEFINITION_RE = re.compile(
     r"""(?mx)
     ^\ {0,3}\[(?P<label>[^\]\n]+)\]:[\t\ ]*
+    (?:\r?\n[\t\ ]+)?
     (?P<target><[^>\n]+>|[^\t\ \n]+)
     (?:[\t\ ]+(?:"(?:\\.|[^"\\])*"|'(?:\\.|[^'\\])*'|\([^()]*\)))?
     [\t\ ]*$
@@ -75,19 +76,21 @@ def without_inline_code(text: str) -> str:
 
 def inline_link_targets(text: str) -> list[str]:
     targets: list[str] = []
-    for match in INLINE_LINK_START_RE.finditer(text):
+    matches = list(INLINE_LINK_START_RE.finditer(text))
+    for index, match in enumerate(matches):
         start = match.end()
+        next_start = (
+            matches[index + 1].start() if index + 1 < len(matches) else len(text)
+        )
         if start < len(text) and text[start] == "<":
-            end = text.find(">", start + 1)
+            end = text.find(">", start + 1, next_start)
             if end != -1:
                 targets.append(text[start : end + 1])
-                continue
-            break
+            continue
         depth = 0
         quote: str | None = None
         escaped = False
-        closed = False
-        for end in range(start, len(text)):
+        for end in range(start, next_start):
             character = text[end]
             if quote is not None:
                 if escaped:
@@ -105,11 +108,8 @@ def inline_link_targets(text: str) -> list[str]:
             elif character == ")":
                 if depth == 0:
                     targets.append(text[start:end])
-                    closed = True
                     break
                 depth -= 1
-        if not closed:
-            break
     return targets
 
 
diff --git a/skills/docs-governance/scripts/markdown_links.py b/skills/docs-governance/scripts/markdown_links.py
index 213f9b4f7..9f875444e 100644
--- a/skills/docs-governance/scripts/markdown_links.py
+++ b/skills/docs-governance/scripts/markdown_links.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ INLINE_LINK_START_RE = re.compile(r"\[[^\]\n]*\]\(")
 REFERENCE_DEFINITION_RE = re.compile(
     r"""(?mx)
     ^\ {0,3}\[(?P<label>[^\]\n]+)\]:[\t\ ]*
+    (?:\r?\n[\t\ ]+)?
     (?P<target><[^>\n]+>|[^\t\ \n]+)
     (?:[\t\ ]+(?:"(?:\\.|[^"\\])*"|'(?:\\.|[^'\\])*'|\([^()]*\)))?
     [\t\ ]*$
@@ -75,19 +76,21 @@ def without_inline_code(text: str) -> str:
 
 def inline_link_targets(text: str) -> list[str]:
     targets: list[str] = []
-    for match in INLINE_LINK_START_RE.finditer(text):
+    matches = list(INLINE_LINK_START_RE.finditer(text))
+    for index, match in enumerate(matches):
         start = match.end()
+        next_start = (
+            matches[index + 1].start() if index + 1 < len(matches) else len(text)
+        )
         if start < len(text) and text[start] == "<":
-            end = text.find(">", start + 1)
+            end = text.find(">", start + 1, next_start)
             if end != -1:
                 targets.append(text[start : end + 1])
-                continue
-            break
+            continue
         depth = 0
         quote: str | None = None
         escaped = False
-        closed = False
-        for end in range(start, len(text)):
+        for end in range(start, next_start):
             character = text[end]
             if quote is not None:
                 if escaped:
@@ -105,11 +108,8 @@ def inline_link_targets(text: str) -> list[str]:
             elif character == ")":
                 if depth == 0:
                     targets.append(text[start:end])
-                    closed = True
                     break
                 depth -= 1
-        if not closed:
-            break
     return targets
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_docs_governance_audit.py b/tests/test_docs_governance_audit.py
index df17467ce..4476500de 100644
--- a/tests/test_docs_governance_audit.py
+++ b/tests/test_docs_governance_audit.py
@@ -220,6 +220,19 @@ def test_artifact_scope_handles_many_unclosed_inline_links_linearly(
     assert result.returncode == 0, result.stdout
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("prefix", ("<unterminated ", "unterminated "))
+def test_artifact_scope_checks_link_after_unclosed_destination(
+    project: Path, prefix: str
+) -> None:
+    (project / "index.md").write_text(
+        f"[broken]({prefix}[missing](missing-guide.md)\n",
+        encoding="utf-8",
+    )
+    result = run_audit(project, "artifacts")
+    assert result.returncode == 1
+    assert "Broken Markdown link: 'index.md' -> 'missing-guide.md'" in result.stdout
+
+
 def test_artifact_scope_ignores_links_inside_code_examples(project: Path) -> None:
     (project / "guide.md").write_text(
         "`[inline](missing-inline.md)`\n\n```md\n[fenced](missing-fenced.md)\n```\n",
@@ -276,6 +289,17 @@ def test_artifact_scope_checks_reference_style_markdown_links(
     assert "missing-guide.md" in result.stdout
 
 
+def test_artifact_scope_checks_continuation_line_reference_target(
+    project: Path,
+) -> None:
+    (project / "index.md").write_text(
+        "[docs]\n\n[docs]:\n  missing-guide.md\n", encoding="utf-8"
+    )
+    result = run_audit(project, "artifacts")
+    assert result.returncode == 1
+    assert "Broken Markdown link: 'index.md' -> 'missing-guide.md'" in result.stdout
+
+
 def test_adr_scope_requires_every_file_in_index(project: Path) -> None:
     adr_dir = project / "docs" / "adr"
     adr_dir.mkdir(parents=True)