diff --git a/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/outputs/notebookMarkdown.ts b/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/outputs/notebookMarkdown.ts
index e6f117b5a2..0ce353de9a 100644
--- a/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/outputs/notebookMarkdown.ts
+++ b/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/outputs/notebookMarkdown.ts
@@ -134,11 +134,16 @@ export class NotebookMarkdownRenderer {
 
 			} else {
 				// HTML Encode href
-				href = href.replace(/&(?!amp;)/g, '&')
-					.replace(/</g, '&lt;')
-					.replace(/>/g, '&gt;')
-					.replace(/"/g, '&quot;')
-					.replace(/'/g, '&#39;');
+				let uri = URI.parse(href);
+				// mailto uris do not need additional encoding of &, otherwise it would not render properly
+				if (uri.scheme !== 'mailto') {
+					href = href.replace(/&(?!amp;)/g, '&amp;');
+				} else {
+					href = href.replace(/</g, '&lt;')
+						.replace(/>/g, '&gt;')
+						.replace(/"/g, '&quot;')
+						.replace(/'/g, '&#39;');
+				}
 				return `<a href=${href} data-href="${href}" title="${title || href}">${text}</a>`;
 			}
 		};
diff --git a/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/test/browser/notebookMarkdown.test.ts b/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/test/browser/notebookMarkdown.test.ts
index ad92a0f017..087b1908cb 100644
--- a/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/test/browser/notebookMarkdown.test.ts
+++ b/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/test/browser/notebookMarkdown.test.ts
@@ -69,6 +69,21 @@ suite('NotebookMarkdownRenderer', () => {
 		assert.strict(markedPath, '<p>....\test.ipynb</p>');
 	});
 
+	test('email in markdown format renders properly', () => {
+		let result: HTMLElement = notebookMarkdownRenderer.renderMarkdown({ value: `[test@email.com](mailto:test@email.com)`, isTrusted: true });
+		assert.strictEqual(result.innerHTML, `<p><a href="mailto:test@email.com" data-href="mailto:test@email.com" title="mailto:test@email.com">test@email.com</a></p>`);
+	});
+
+	test('email inserted directly renders properly', () => {
+		let result: HTMLElement = notebookMarkdownRenderer.renderMarkdown({ value: `test@email.com`, isTrusted: true });
+		assert.strictEqual(result.innerHTML, `<p><a href="mailto:test@email.com" data-href="mailto:test@email.com" title="mailto:test@email.com">test@email.com</a></p>`);
+	});
+
+	test('link to https with query parameters', () => {
+		let result: HTMLElement = notebookMarkdownRenderer.renderMarkdown({ value: `[test](https://www.test.com?test=&test2=)`, isTrusted: true });
+		assert.strictEqual(result.innerHTML, `<p><a href="https://www.test.com?test=&amp;test2=" data-href="https://www.test.com?test=&amp;test2=" title="https://www.test.com?test=&amp;test2=">test</a></p>`);
+	});
+
 	test('cell attachment image', () => {
 		let result: HTMLElement = notebookMarkdownRenderer.renderMarkdown({ value: `![altText](attachment:ads.png)`, isTrusted: true }, { cellAttachments: JSON.parse('{"ads.png":{"image/png":"iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAggg=="}}') });
 		assert.strictEqual(result.innerHTML, `<p><img src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAggg==" alt="altText"></p>`, 'Cell attachment basic test failed when trusted');