diff --git a/lib/redcloth3.rb b/lib/redcloth3.rb
index 0386589..eacd6d9 100644
--- a/lib/redcloth3.rb
+++ b/lib/redcloth3.rb
@@ -529,13 +529,13 @@ class RedCloth3 < String
             fullrow.each_line do |row|
                 ratts, row = pba( $1, 'tr' ), $2 if row =~ /^(#{A}#{C}\. )(.*)/m
                 cells = []
-                row.split( /(\|)(?![^\[\|]*\]\])/ )[1..-2].each do |cell|
-                    next if cell == '|'
+                # the regexp prevents wiki links with a | from being cut as cells 
+                row.scan(/\|(_?#{S}#{A}#{C}\. ?)?((\[\[[^|\]]*\|[^|\]]*\]\]|[^|])*?)(?=\|)/) do |modifiers, cell|
                     ctyp = 'd'
-                    ctyp = 'h' if cell =~ /^_/
+                    ctyp = 'h' if modifiers && modifiers =~ /^_/
 
                     catts = nil
-                    catts, cell = pba( $1, 'td' ), $2 if cell =~ /^(_?#{S}#{A}#{C}\. ?)(.*)/
+                    catts = pba( modifiers, 'td' ) if modifiers
 
                     catts = shelve( catts ) if catts
                     cells << "\t\t\t<t#{ ctyp }#{ catts }>#{ cell }</t#{ ctyp }>"