diff --git a/README.org b/README.org
index 0d123fe..ebb9d70 100644
--- a/README.org
+++ b/README.org
@@ -7,9 +7,6 @@ Take a look at [[https://niklasfasching.github.io/go-org/][github pages]] for so
 - more keywords: https://orgmode.org/manual/In_002dbuffer-settings.html
 - headlines
   - unique ids: see [[https://github.com/kaushalmodi/ox-hugo/blob/8472cf2d8667754c9da3728255634e8001a1da6d/ox-hugo.el#L1785-L1850][ox-hugo]] for auto generation
-- improve list parsing
-  - handle list items with empty first line
-  - handle ordered list overrides [@10]
 ** links
 https://orgmode.org/manual/External-links.html
 https://orgmode.org/manual/Internal-links.html
diff --git a/org/list.go b/org/list.go
index e4265dc..63f89b4 100644
--- a/org/list.go
+++ b/org/list.go
@@ -25,16 +25,16 @@ type DescriptiveListItem struct {
 	Details []Node
 }
 
-var unorderedListRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^(\s*)([+*-])\s(.*)`)
-var orderedListRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^(\s*)(([0-9]+|[a-zA-Z])[.)])\s+(.*)`)
+var unorderedListRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^(\s*)([+*-])(\s+(.*)|\s*$)`)
+var orderedListRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^(\s*)(([0-9]+|[a-zA-Z])[.)])(\s+(.*)|\s*$)`)
 var descriptiveListItemRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`\s::(\s|$)`)
 var listItemStatusRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`\[( |X|-)\]\s`)
 
 func lexList(line string) (token, bool) {
 	if m := unorderedListRegexp.FindStringSubmatch(line); m != nil {
-		return token{"unorderedList", len(m[1]), m[3], m}, true
+		return token{"unorderedList", len(m[1]), m[4], m}, true
 	} else if m := orderedListRegexp.FindStringSubmatch(line); m != nil {
-		return token{"orderedList", len(m[1]), m[4], m}, true
+		return token{"orderedList", len(m[1]), m[5], m}, true
 	}
 	return nilToken, false
 }
diff --git a/org/testdata/lists.html b/org/testdata/lists.html
index 4970e90..9729362 100644
--- a/org/testdata/lists.html
+++ b/org/testdata/lists.html
@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@ unordered list item 1
 </li>
 <li>
 <p>
+list item with empty first and second line <br>
+normally an empty line breaks the list item - but we make an exception for the first line and don&#39;t count it towards that limit
+</p>
+</li>
+<li>
+<p>
 unordered list item 2 - with <code>inline</code> <em>markup</em>
 </p>
 <ol>
@@ -36,6 +42,11 @@ ordered sublist item 3
 ordered sublist item 2
 </p>
 </li>
+<li>
+<p>
+list item with empty first and second line - see above
+</p>
+</li>
 </ol>
 </li>
 <li class="checked">
diff --git a/org/testdata/lists.org b/org/testdata/lists.org
index 46a515b..b8983f1 100644
--- a/org/testdata/lists.org
+++ b/org/testdata/lists.org
@@ -1,10 +1,17 @@
 - [ ] unordered list item 1
+-
+
+  list item with empty first and second line \\
+  normally an empty line breaks the list item - but we make an exception for the first line and don't count it towards that limit
 - unordered list item 2 - with ~inline~ /markup/
   1. [-] ordered sublist item 1
      a) [X] ordered sublist item 1
      b) [ ] ordered sublist item 2
      c) [X] ordered sublist item 3
   2. ordered sublist item 2
+  3.
+
+     list item with empty first and second line - see above
 - [X] unordered list item 3 - and a [[https://example.com][link]]
   and some lines of text
   1. and another subitem
diff --git a/org/testdata/lists.pretty_org b/org/testdata/lists.pretty_org
index 46a515b..b8983f1 100644
--- a/org/testdata/lists.pretty_org
+++ b/org/testdata/lists.pretty_org
@@ -1,10 +1,17 @@
 - [ ] unordered list item 1
+-
+
+  list item with empty first and second line \\
+  normally an empty line breaks the list item - but we make an exception for the first line and don't count it towards that limit
 - unordered list item 2 - with ~inline~ /markup/
   1. [-] ordered sublist item 1
      a) [X] ordered sublist item 1
      b) [ ] ordered sublist item 2
      c) [X] ordered sublist item 3
   2. ordered sublist item 2
+  3.
+
+     list item with empty first and second line - see above
 - [X] unordered list item 3 - and a [[https://example.com][link]]
   and some lines of text
   1. and another subitem