diff --git a/src/utils/replaceUtils.ts b/src/utils/replaceUtils.ts
index 58dd367e..1caf09bc 100644
--- a/src/utils/replaceUtils.ts
+++ b/src/utils/replaceUtils.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import {
   escapeForRegExp,
 } from './utils';
 import { isInCodeSpan, isInFencedCodeBlock } from './externalUtils';
-import { search } from './searchUtils';
+import { search, refsToSearchRegExpStr } from './searchUtils';
 
 type RenamedFile = {
   readonly oldUri: Uri;
@@ -117,7 +117,10 @@ export const resolveRefsReplaceMap = async (
       return {};
     }
 
-    const fsPaths = await search([`[[${oldShortRef}]]`, `[[${oldLongRef}]]`], workspaceFolder);
+    const fsPaths = await search(
+      refsToSearchRegExpStr([`[[${oldShortRef}]]`, `[[${oldLongRef}]]`]),
+      workspaceFolder,
+    );
 
     const searchUris = fsPaths.length
       ? newUris.filter(({ fsPath }) => fsPaths.includes(fsPath))
diff --git a/src/utils/searchUtils.spec.ts b/src/utils/searchUtils.spec.ts
index b2d05cbe..dc0fb44b 100644
--- a/src/utils/searchUtils.spec.ts
+++ b/src/utils/searchUtils.spec.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { search } from './searchUtils';
+import { search, refsToSearchRegExpStr } from './searchUtils';
 import {
   closeEditorsAndCleanWorkspace,
   createFile,
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ describe('search()', () => {
 
     const uri = await createFile(`${name}.md`, '[[ref]]');
 
-    const [path] = await search(['[[ref]]'], getWorkspaceFolder());
+    const [path] = await search(refsToSearchRegExpStr(['[[ref]]']), getWorkspaceFolder());
 
     expect(uri?.fsPath).toBe(path);
   });
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ describe('search()', () => {
 
     const uri = await createFile(`${name}.md`, '[[image.png]]');
 
-    const [path] = await search(['[[image.png]]'], getWorkspaceFolder());
+    const [path] = await search(refsToSearchRegExpStr(['[[image.png]]']), getWorkspaceFolder());
 
     expect(uri?.fsPath).toBe(path);
   });
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ describe('search()', () => {
 
     const uri = await createFile(`${name}.md`, '![[image.png]]');
 
-    const [path] = await search(['[[image.png]]'], getWorkspaceFolder());
+    const [path] = await search(refsToSearchRegExpStr(['[[image.png]]']), getWorkspaceFolder());
 
     expect(uri?.fsPath).toBe(path);
   });
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ describe('search()', () => {
 
     await createFile(`${name1}.md`);
 
-    const paths = await search(['[[ref]]'], getWorkspaceFolder());
+    const paths = await search(refsToSearchRegExpStr(['[[ref]]']), getWorkspaceFolder());
 
     expect(paths.length).toBe(1);
     expect(uri?.fsPath).toBe(paths[0]);
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ describe('search()', () => {
 
     await createFile(`${name}.txt`, '[[ref]]');
 
-    const paths = await search(['[[ref]]'], getWorkspaceFolder());
+    const paths = await search(refsToSearchRegExpStr(['[[ref]]']), getWorkspaceFolder());
 
     expect(paths.length).toBe(0);
   });
@@ -78,7 +78,10 @@ describe('search()', () => {
     await createFile(`${name}-1.md`, '[[ref0]]');
     await createFile(`${name}-2.md`, '[[ref1]]');
 
-    const paths = await search(['[[ref0]]', '[[ref1]]'], getWorkspaceFolder());
+    const paths = await search(
+      refsToSearchRegExpStr(['[[ref0]]', '[[ref1]]']),
+      getWorkspaceFolder(),
+    );
 
     expect(paths.length).toBe(2);
   });
diff --git a/src/utils/searchUtils.ts b/src/utils/searchUtils.ts
index c83df8dd..8e2b1470 100644
--- a/src/utils/searchUtils.ts
+++ b/src/utils/searchUtils.ts
@@ -45,10 +45,12 @@ const findRipgrepPath = async (): Promise<string | undefined> => {
   return;
 };
 
-export const search = async (refs: string[], dirPath: string = '.'): Promise<string[]> => {
+export const refsToSearchRegExpStr = (refs: string[]) => `(${refs.map(escapeForRegExp).join('|')})`;
+
+export const search = async (regExpStr: string, dirPath: string = '.'): Promise<string[]> => {
   const ripgrepPath = await findRipgrepPath();
 
-  if (!ripgrepPath || !refs.length) {
+  if (!ripgrepPath || !regExpStr) {
     return [];
   }
 
@@ -60,7 +62,7 @@ export const search = async (refs: string[], dirPath: string = '.'): Promise<str
       'never',
       '-g',
       `*.md`,
-      `(${refs.map(escapeForRegExp).join('|')})`,
+      regExpStr,
       dirPath,
     ]);
 
diff --git a/src/workspace/cache/cache.ts b/src/workspace/cache/cache.ts
index 3ee74a78..53637dc5 100644
--- a/src/workspace/cache/cache.ts
+++ b/src/workspace/cache/cache.ts
@@ -18,9 +18,15 @@ const utils = () => require('../../utils');
 // private methods (not exported via workspace/index.ts and should not be used outside of workspace folder)
 
 export const cacheRefs = async () => {
-  workspaceCache.danglingRefsByFsPath = await utils().findDanglingRefsByFsPath(
-    workspaceCache.markdownUris,
-  );
+  const { search, getWorkspaceFolder } = utils();
+
+  const fsPaths = await search('\\[\\[([^\\[\\]]+?)\\]\\]', getWorkspaceFolder()!);
+
+  const searchUris = fsPaths.length
+    ? workspaceCache.markdownUris.filter(({ fsPath }) => fsPaths.includes(fsPath))
+    : workspaceCache.markdownUris;
+
+  workspaceCache.danglingRefsByFsPath = await utils().findDanglingRefsByFsPath(searchUris);
   workspaceCache.danglingRefs = sortPaths(
     Array.from(new Set(Object.values(workspaceCache.danglingRefsByFsPath).flatMap((refs) => refs))),
     { shallowFirst: true },