diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/HTML.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/HTML.hs
index bf01f663b..12444f75f 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/HTML.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/HTML.hs
@@ -1548,6 +1548,9 @@ inlineToHtml opts inline = do
              _ -> do report $ InlineNotRendered inline
                      return mempty
     (Link attr txt (s,_)) | "mailto:" `T.isPrefixOf` s -> do
+                        -- We need to remove links from link text, because an
+                        -- <a> element is not allowed inside another <a>
+                        -- element.
                         linkText <- inlineListToHtml opts (removeLinks txt)
                         obfuscateLink opts attr linkText s
     (Link (ident,classes,kvs) txt (s,tit)) -> do
@@ -1768,15 +1771,6 @@ isSlideVariant :: Format -> Bool
 isSlideVariant f = f `elem` [Format "s5", Format "slidy", Format "slideous",
                              Format "dzslides", Format "revealjs"]
 
-
--- We need to remove links from link text, because an <a> element is
--- not allowed inside another <a> element.
-removeLinks :: [Inline] -> [Inline]
-removeLinks = walk go
- where
-  go (Link attr ils _) = Span attr ils
-  go x = x
-
 toURI :: Bool -> Text -> Text
 toURI isHtml5 t = if isHtml5 then t else escapeURI t
  where
diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/MediaWiki.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/MediaWiki.hs
index 2991e4ebc..d85354756 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/MediaWiki.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/MediaWiki.hs
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ import Text.Pandoc.Definition
 import Text.Pandoc.ImageSize
 import Text.Pandoc.Logging
 import Text.Pandoc.Options
-import Text.Pandoc.Walk
 import Text.DocLayout (render, literal)
 import Text.Pandoc.Shared
 import Text.Pandoc.URI
@@ -484,6 +483,8 @@ inlineToMediaWiki SoftBreak = do
 inlineToMediaWiki Space = return " "
 
 inlineToMediaWiki (Link _ txt (src, _)) = do
+  -- We need to remove links from link text, because an <a> element is
+  -- not allowed inside another <a> element.
   label <- inlineListToMediaWiki (removeLinks txt)
   case txt of
      [Str s] | isURI src && escapeURI s == src -> return src
@@ -518,14 +519,6 @@ inlineToMediaWiki (Note contents) = do
   return $ "<ref>" <> stripTrailingNewlines contents' <> "</ref>"
   -- note - does not work for notes with multiple blocks
 
--- We need to remove links from link text, because an <a> element is
--- not allowed inside another <a> element.
-removeLinks :: [Inline] -> [Inline]
-removeLinks = walk go
- where
-  go (Link _ ils _) = SmallCaps ils
-  go x = x
-
 highlightingLangs :: Set.Set Text
 highlightingLangs = Set.fromList [
   "abap",
diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/Shared.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/Shared.hs
index aff1520f1..9d71f2fb3 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/Shared.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/Shared.hs
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ module Text.Pandoc.Writers.Shared (
                      , toLegacyTable
                      , splitSentences
                      , ensureValidXmlIdentifiers
+                     , removeLinks
                      , setupTranslations
                      , isOrderedListMarker
                      , toTaskListItem
@@ -805,6 +806,14 @@ walkAttr f = walk goInline . walk goBlock
   goBlock (Div attr bs) = Div (f attr) bs
   goBlock x = x
 
+-- | Convert links to spans; most useful when writing elements that must not
+-- contain links, e.g. to avoid nested links.
+removeLinks :: [Inline] -> [Inline]
+removeLinks = walk go
+ where
+  go (Link attr ils _) = Span attr ils
+  go x = x
+
 -- | Set translations based on the `lang` in metadata.
 setupTranslations :: PandocMonad m => Meta -> m ()
 setupTranslations meta = do
diff --git a/test/command/11124.md b/test/command/11124.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0343d2650
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/command/11124.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+The heading is "unlinked" before adding it to the TOC.
+
+```
+% pandoc --to=latex
+<http://example.com/> {-}
+=========================
+^D
+\section*{\texorpdfstring{\url{http://example.com/}}{http://example.com/}}\label{httpexample.com}
+\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{{http://example.com/}}
+```
diff --git a/test/command/8738.md b/test/command/8738.md
index 4b8f251e7..ae128b8bd 100644
--- a/test/command/8738.md
+++ b/test/command/8738.md
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@
 % pandoc -f native -t mediawiki
 [Link ("",[],[]) [Link ("",[],[]) [Str "test"] ("https://bar.example.com",""),Str "Test"] ("https://foo.example.com","")]
 ^D
-[https://foo.example.com testTest]
+[https://foo.example.com <span>test</span>Test]
 ```