diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index eb3126b..3f35b2f 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ struct ctx {
         size_t ofooter;
         int flags;
     } doc;
+    const char *manurl;
     struct {
         stralloc sa;
         size_t salen;
@@ -954,9 +955,13 @@ leave_span(MD_SPANTYPE type, void *details, void *ctx_)
                         file = NULL;
                     }
 
-                    if (file) {
+                    if (file || ctx->manurl) {
                         if (!raw_str(ctx, "<a href=\"")
-                                || !escape_text(ctx, file, strlen(file))
+                                || (!file && !raw_str(ctx, ctx->manurl))
+                                || !raw_text(ctx, s, l)
+                                || !raw_text(ctx, ".", 1)
+                                || !raw_text(ctx, buf + 1, 1)
+                                || !raw_text(ctx, ".html", 5)
                                 || !raw_str(ctx, "\">")
                                 || !raw_text(ctx, s, l)
                                 || !raw_str(ctx, buf)
@@ -1320,6 +1325,7 @@ help(void)
             " -I, --inline-css             Use inline CSS instead of external files\n"
             " -i, --index                  Force index mode\n"
             " -l, --lang LNG               Set LNG as language attribute\n"
+            " -M, --man-url URL            Use URL as prefix for external man-page links\n"
             " -o, --overwrite              Overwrite destination files if already exist\n"
             " -s, --subtitle TEXT          Set TEXT as general subtitle\n"
             " -T, --no-toc                 Don't write a TOC on each page. Implies --no-index\n"
@@ -1369,6 +1375,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
         { "inline-css",     no_argument,        NULL,   'I' },
         { "index",          no_argument,        NULL,   'i' },
         { "lang",           no_argument,        NULL,   'l' },
+        { "man-url",        required_argument,  NULL,   'M' },
         { "overwrite",      no_argument,        NULL,   'o' },
         { "subtitle",       required_argument,  NULL,   's' },
         { "no-toc",         no_argument,        NULL,   'T' },
@@ -1376,7 +1383,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
         { "no-index",       no_argument,        NULL,   'X' },
         { NULL,             0,                  NULL,    0  },
     };
-    while ((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "a:bCc:d:F:H:hIil:os:Tt:X", opts, NULL)) != -1) switch (c) {
+    while ((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "a:bCc:d:F:H:hIil:M:os:Tt:X", opts, NULL)) != -1) switch (c) {
         case 'a':
             ctx.doc.author = optarg;
             break;
@@ -1409,6 +1416,9 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
         case 'l':
             ctx.doc.lang = optarg;
             break;
+        case 'M':
+            ctx.manurl = optarg;
+            break;
         case 'o':
             ctx.options |= OPT_OVERWRITE;
             break;