diff --git a/org/inline.go b/org/inline.go
index 53f60d3..21400d0 100644
--- a/org/inline.go
+++ b/org/inline.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ var videoExtensionRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^[.](webm|mp4)$`)
 
 var subScriptSuperScriptRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^([_^]){([^{}]+?)}`)
 var timestampRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^<(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2})( [A-Za-z]+)?( \d{2}:\d{2})?( \+\d+[dwmy])?>`)
-var footnoteRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^\[fn:([\w-]+?)(:(.*?))?\]`)
+var footnoteRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^\[fn:([\w-]*?)(:(.*?))?\]`)
 var statisticsTokenRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^\[(\d+/\d+|\d+%)\]`)
 
 var timestampFormat = "2006-01-02 Mon 15:04"
@@ -168,6 +168,9 @@ func (d *Document) parseOpeningBracket(input string, start int) (int, Node) {
 func (d *Document) parseFootnoteReference(input string, start int) (int, Node) {
 	if m := footnoteRegexp.FindStringSubmatch(input[start:]); m != nil {
 		name, definition := m[1], m[3]
+		if name == "" && definition == "" {
+			return 0, nil
+		}
 		link := FootnoteLink{name, nil}
 		if definition != "" {
 			link.Definition = &FootnoteDefinition{name, []Node{Paragraph{d.parseInline(definition)}}, true}
diff --git a/org/testdata/footnotes.html b/org/testdata/footnotes.html
index d71b549..7486773 100644
--- a/org/testdata/footnotes.html
+++ b/org/testdata/footnotes.html
@@ -27,8 +27,13 @@ inline footnotes are also supported via <sup class="footnote-reference"><a id="f
 </li>
 <li>
 <p>
+anonymous inline footnotes are also supported via <sup class="footnote-reference"><a id="footnote-reference-3" href="#footnote-3">3</a></sup>.
+</p>
+</li>
+<li>
+<p>
 Footnote definitions are not printed where they appear.
-Rather, they are gathered and exported at the end of the document in the footnote section. <sup class="footnote-reference"><a id="footnote-reference-3" href="#footnote-3">3</a></sup>
+Rather, they are gathered and exported at the end of the document in the footnote section. <sup class="footnote-reference"><a id="footnote-reference-4" href="#footnote-4">4</a></sup>
 </p>
 </li>
 </ul>
@@ -36,10 +41,10 @@ Rather, they are gathered and exported at the end of the document in the footnot
 Footnotes
 </h1>
 <p>
-Please note that the footnotes section is not automatically excluded from the export like in emacs. <sup class="footnote-reference"><a id="footnote-reference-4" href="#footnote-4">4</a></sup>
+Please note that the footnotes section is not automatically excluded from the export like in emacs. <sup class="footnote-reference"><a id="footnote-reference-5" href="#footnote-5">5</a></sup>
 </p>
 <p>
-this is not part of <sup class="footnote-reference"><a id="footnote-reference-4" href="#footnote-4">4</a></sup> anymore as there are 2 blank lines in between!
+this is not part of <sup class="footnote-reference"><a id="footnote-reference-5" href="#footnote-5">5</a></sup> anymore as there are 2 blank lines in between!
 </p>
 <div class="footnotes">
 <hr class="footnotes-separatator">
@@ -118,13 +123,21 @@ the inline footnote definition
 <sup id="footnote-3"><a href="#footnote-reference-3">3</a></sup>
 <div class="footnote-body">
 <p>
+the anonymous inline footnote definition
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote-definition">
+<sup id="footnote-4"><a href="#footnote-reference-4">4</a></sup>
+<div class="footnote-body">
+<p>
 so this definition will not be at the end of this section in the exported document.
 Rather, it will be somewhere down below in the footnotes section.
 </p>
 </div>
 </div>
 <div class="footnote-definition">
-<sup id="footnote-4"><a href="#footnote-reference-4">4</a></sup>
+<sup id="footnote-5"><a href="#footnote-reference-5">5</a></sup>
 <div class="footnote-body">
 <p>
 There&#39;s multiple reasons for that. Among others, doing so requires i18n (to recognize the section) and silently
diff --git a/org/testdata/footnotes.org b/org/testdata/footnotes.org
index ca8fcef..cdb32d1 100644
--- a/org/testdata/footnotes.org
+++ b/org/testdata/footnotes.org
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 - normal footnote reference [fn:1] [fn:6]
 - further references to the same footnote should not [fn:1] render duplicates in the footnote list
 - inline footnotes are also supported via [fn:2:the inline footnote definition].
+- anonymous inline footnotes are also supported via [fn::the anonymous inline footnote definition].
 - Footnote definitions are not printed where they appear.
   Rather, they are gathered and exported at the end of the document in the footnote section. [fn:4]
 
diff --git a/org/testdata/footnotes.pretty_org b/org/testdata/footnotes.pretty_org
index ca8fcef..cdb32d1 100644
--- a/org/testdata/footnotes.pretty_org
+++ b/org/testdata/footnotes.pretty_org
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 - normal footnote reference [fn:1] [fn:6]
 - further references to the same footnote should not [fn:1] render duplicates in the footnote list
 - inline footnotes are also supported via [fn:2:the inline footnote definition].
+- anonymous inline footnotes are also supported via [fn::the anonymous inline footnote definition].
 - Footnote definitions are not printed where they appear.
   Rather, they are gathered and exported at the end of the document in the footnote section. [fn:4]