diff --git a/modules/markup/common/footnote.go b/modules/markup/common/footnote.go
index 4406803694..0e75e2adfd 100644
--- a/modules/markup/common/footnote.go
+++ b/modules/markup/common/footnote.go
@@ -29,12 +29,17 @@ func CleanValue(value []byte) []byte {
 	value = bytes.TrimSpace(value)
 	rs := bytes.Runes(value)
 	result := make([]rune, 0, len(rs))
+	needsDash := false
 	for _, r := range rs {
-		if unicode.IsLetter(r) || unicode.IsNumber(r) || r == '_' || r == '-' {
+		switch {
+		case unicode.IsLetter(r) || unicode.IsNumber(r) || r == '_':
+			if needsDash && len(result) > 0 {
+				result = append(result, '-')
+			}
+			needsDash = false
 			result = append(result, unicode.ToLower(r))
-		}
-		if unicode.IsSpace(r) {
-			result = append(result, '-')
+		default:
+			needsDash = true
 		}
 	}
 	return []byte(string(result))
diff --git a/modules/markup/common/footnote_test.go b/modules/markup/common/footnote_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 2327a7b14b..0000000000
--- a/modules/markup/common/footnote_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,60 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2023 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
-// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
-package common
-
-import (
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
-)
-
-func TestCleanValue(t *testing.T) {
-	tests := []struct {
-		param  string
-		expect string
-	}{
-		// Github behavior test cases
-		{"", ""},
-		{"test(0)", "test0"},
-		{"test!1", "test1"},
-		{"test:2", "test2"},
-		{"test*3", "test3"},
-		{"test！4", "test4"},
-		{"test：5", "test5"},
-		{"test*6", "test6"},
-		{"test：6 a", "test6-a"},
-		{"test：6 !b", "test6-b"},
-		{"test：ad # df", "testad--df"},
-		{"test：ad #23 df 2*/*", "testad-23-df-2"},
-		{"test：ad 23 df 2*/*", "testad-23-df-2"},
-		{"test：ad # 23 df 2*/*", "testad--23-df-2"},
-		{"Anchors in Markdown", "anchors-in-markdown"},
-		{"a_b_c", "a_b_c"},
-		{"a-b-c", "a-b-c"},
-		{"a-b-c----", "a-b-c----"},
-		{"test：6a", "test6a"},
-		{"test：a6", "testa6"},
-		{"tes a a   a  a", "tes-a-a---a--a"},
-		{"  tes a a   a  a  ", "tes-a-a---a--a"},
-		{"Header with \"double quotes\"", "header-with-double-quotes"},
-		{"Placeholder to force scrolling on link's click", "placeholder-to-force-scrolling-on-links-click"},
-		{"tes（）", "tes"},
-		{"tes（0）", "tes0"},
-		{"tes{0}", "tes0"},
-		{"tes[0]", "tes0"},
-		{"test【0】", "test0"},
-		{"tes…@a", "tesa"},
-		{"tes￥& a", "tes-a"},
-		{"tes= a", "tes-a"},
-		{"tes|a", "tesa"},
-		{"tes\\a", "tesa"},
-		{"tes/a", "tesa"},
-		{"a啊啊b", "a啊啊b"},
-		{"c🤔️🤔️d", "cd"},
-		{"a⚡a", "aa"},
-		{"e.~f", "ef"},
-	}
-	for _, test := range tests {
-		assert.Equal(t, []byte(test.expect), CleanValue([]byte(test.param)), test.param)
-	}
-}