diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c74429cf..5397a3ff 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -524,7 +524,7 @@ You can also include and exclude folders from the tree using the context menu. T
 When the extension was first written, very basic markdown support was added simply by adding a pattern to the default regex to match "`- [ ]`". A better way to handle markdown TODOs is to add "`(-|\d+.)`" to the list of "comments" in the first part of the regex and then adding "`[ ]`" and "`[x]`" to the list of tags in `settings.json`, e.g. :
 
 ```json
-"todo-tree.regex.regex": "(//|#|<!--|;|/\\*|^|^\\s*(-|\\d+.))\\s*($TAGS)"
+"todo-tree.regex.regex": "(//|#|<!--|;|/\\*|^|^\\s*(-|\\d+.))[ \t]*($TAGS)"
 "todo-tree.general.tags": [
         "BUG",
         "HACK",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 47f56932..e7c3f6a2 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1136,7 +1136,7 @@
                 "type": "object",
                 "properties": {
                     "todo-tree.regex.regex": {
-                        "default": "(//|#|<!--|;|/\\*|^|^[ \\t]*(-|\\d+.))\\s*($TAGS)",
+                        "default": "(//|#|<!--|;|/\\*|^|^[ \\t]*(-|\\d+.))[ \t]*($TAGS)",
                         "markdownDescription": "%todo-tree.configuration.regex.regex.markdownDescription%",
                         "type": "string",
                         "minLength": 1,
diff --git a/src/extension.js b/src/extension.js
index 5c7bf02a..fba86410 100644
--- a/src/extension.js
+++ b/src/extension.js
@@ -1008,7 +1008,7 @@ function activate( context )
                         ignoreMarkdownUpdate = true;
                         addTag( '[ ]' );
                         addTag( '[x]' );
-                        c.update( 'regex.regex', '(//|#|<!--|;|/\\*|^|^[ \\t]*(-|\\d+.))\\s*($TAGS)', true );
+                        c.update( 'regex.regex', '(//|#|<!--|;|/\\*|^|^[ \\t]*(-|\\d+.))[ \\t]*($TAGS)', true );
                     }
                     else if( button === MORE_INFO_BUTTON )
                     {
diff --git a/test/tests.js b/test/tests.js
index f7f482de..bd18b09e 100644
--- a/test/tests.js
+++ b/test/tests.js
@@ -291,6 +291,48 @@ QUnit.test( "utils.getRegexForRipGrep can remove the case insensitive flag", fun
     assert.equal( utils.getRegexForRipGrep().flags, "gm" );
 } );
 
+QUnit.test( "default regex should not match TODOs after multiline HTML openers", function( assert )
+{
+    var testConfig = stubs.getTestConfig();
+    testConfig.regexSource = "(//|#|<!--|;|/\\*|^|^[ \\t]*(-|\\d+.))[ \\t]*($TAGS)";
+    utils.init( testConfig );
+
+    var regex = utils.getRegexForRipGrep();
+    var sample = [
+        "TODO case 1 Shows up normally",
+        "<!-- TODO case 2 Shows up normally -->",
+        "",
+        "<!--",
+        "TODO case 3 NOT Preceded by extra TODO after multi-line HTML comment",
+        "TODO case 4 Shows up normally",
+        "-->"
+    ].join( "\n" );
+
+    var matches = Array.from( sample.matchAll( regex ) );
+    var lines = sample.split( "\n" );
+    var lineNumbers = matches.map( function( match )
+    {
+        var uptoMatch = sample.slice( 0, match.index );
+        return uptoMatch.split( "\n" ).length - 1;
+    } );
+    var matchedLines = lineNumbers.map( function( lineNumber )
+    {
+        return lines[ lineNumber ];
+    } );
+
+    assert.equal( matches.length, 4, "every actual TODO occurrence should still be detected" );
+    assert.equal( lineNumbers.indexOf( 3 ), -1, "regex should not report TODOs starting on a bare HTML opener line" );
+    assert.deepEqual( lineNumbers, [ 0, 1, 4, 5 ], "default regex should only match TODO tags on their own lines" );
+    assert.deepEqual( matchedLines,
+        [
+            "TODO case 1 Shows up normally",
+            "<!-- TODO case 2 Shows up normally -->",
+            "TODO case 3 NOT Preceded by extra TODO after multi-line HTML comment",
+            "TODO case 4 Shows up normally"
+        ],
+        "default regex should only match TODO text which shares its line" );
+} );
+
 QUnit.test( "utils.isIncluded returns true when no includes or excludes are specified", function( assert )
 {
     assert.ok( utils.isIncluded( "filename.js", [], [] ) === true );