diff --git a/recommonmark/parser.py b/recommonmark/parser.py
index cc02795..e8667db 100644
--- a/recommonmark/parser.py
+++ b/recommonmark/parser.py
@@ -109,6 +109,9 @@ class CommonMarkParser(parsers.Parser):
     def visit_softbreak(self, _):
         self.current_node.append(nodes.Text('\n'))
 
+    def visit_linebreak(self, _):
+        self.current_node.append(nodes.raw('', '<br />', format='html'))
+
     def visit_paragraph(self, mdnode):
         p = nodes.paragraph(mdnode.literal)
         p.line = mdnode.sourcepos[0][0]
diff --git a/tests/test_basic.py b/tests/test_basic.py
index 798c395..c087062 100644
--- a/tests/test_basic.py
+++ b/tests/test_basic.py
@@ -459,6 +459,24 @@ class TestParsing(unittest.TestCase):
             """
         )
 
+    def test_linebreak(self):
+        self.assertParses(
+            """
+            line1  
+            line2
+            """,
+            """
+            <?xml version="1.0" ?>
+            <document source="&lt;string&gt;">
+              <paragraph>
+                line1
+                <raw format="html" xml:space="preserve">&lt;br /&gt;</raw>
+                line2
+              </paragraph>
+            </document>
+            """
+        )
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()