diff --git a/src/MarkdownParser/Writer/ViewFormatter.cs b/src/MarkdownParser/Writer/ViewFormatter.cs
index 231528a..4dd5da4 100644
--- a/src/MarkdownParser/Writer/ViewFormatter.cs
+++ b/src/MarkdownParser/Writer/ViewFormatter.cs
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ private void WriteInlineToView(Inline inline, ViewWriter<T> writer)
                     writer.AddEmphasis(inline, inline.SourcePosition, inline.SourceLength);
                     break;
                 case InlineTag.Placeholder:
-                    writer.AddPlaceholder(inline.SourcePosition, inline.SourceLength, inline.TargetUrl, inline.FirstChild.LiteralContent);
+                    writer.AddPlaceholder(inline.SourcePosition, inline.SourceLength, inline.TargetUrl, inline.FirstChild?.LiteralContent);
                     break;
                 case InlineTag.Strikethrough:
                 case InlineTag.Emphasis:
diff --git a/src/MarkdownParser/Writer/ViewWriter.cs b/src/MarkdownParser/Writer/ViewWriter.cs
index 55a01f4..657efed 100644
--- a/src/MarkdownParser/Writer/ViewWriter.cs
+++ b/src/MarkdownParser/Writer/ViewWriter.cs
@@ -244,6 +244,11 @@ public void AddLink(int firstCharacterPosition, int length, string url, string u
 
         public void AddPlaceholder(int firstCharacterPosition, int length, string url, string title)
         {
+            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(url))
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+
             GetWorkbenchItem().AddPlaceholder(firstCharacterPosition, length, url, title);
         }
 
diff --git a/test/MarkdownParser.Test/MarkdownParserSingleComponentSpecs.cs b/test/MarkdownParser.Test/MarkdownParserSingleComponentSpecs.cs
index 0a239e4..75d122c 100644
--- a/test/MarkdownParser.Test/MarkdownParserSingleComponentSpecs.cs
+++ b/test/MarkdownParser.Test/MarkdownParserSingleComponentSpecs.cs
@@ -246,4 +246,30 @@ public void When_parsing_a_placeholder_it_should_output_a_PlaceHolderView()
         parseResult.Count.Should().Be(1);
         parseResult.First().Should().Be("textview:my-placeholder");
     }
+
+    [TestMethod]
+    public void When_parsing_a_empty_placeholder_it_should_not_output_placeholder()
+    {
+        //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+        // Arrange
+        //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+        var markdown = @"
+[ ]
+[]
+";
+
+        var mockComponentSupplier = new StringComponentSupplier();
+        var parser = new MarkdownParser<string>(mockComponentSupplier);
+
+        //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+        // Act
+        //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+        var parseResult = parser.Parse(markdown);
+
+        //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+        // Assert
+        //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+        parseResult.Count.Should().Be(1);
+        parseResult.First().Should().Be("textview:");
+    }
 }