diff --git a/lib/rdoc/cross_reference.rb b/lib/rdoc/cross_reference.rb
index 7b137483d5..76a4dcadee 100644
--- a/lib/rdoc/cross_reference.rb
+++ b/lib/rdoc/cross_reference.rb
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class RDoc::CrossReference
   # have been suppressed, since the suppression characters are removed by the
   # code that is triggered.
 
-  CROSSREF_REGEXP = /(?:^|\s)
+  CROSSREF_REGEXP = /(?:^|[\s()])
                      (
                       (?:
                        # A::B::C.meth
diff --git a/test/rdoc/test_rdoc_markup_attribute_manager.rb b/test/rdoc/test_rdoc_markup_attribute_manager.rb
index 024dcc18a1..a180666867 100644
--- a/test/rdoc/test_rdoc_markup_attribute_manager.rb
+++ b/test/rdoc/test_rdoc_markup_attribute_manager.rb
@@ -358,6 +358,8 @@ class TestRDocMarkupAttributeManager < RDoc::TestCase
                   @am.flow("#fred dogs'"))
 
     assert_equal(["cats' ", crossref("#fred")].flatten, @am.flow("cats' #fred"))
+
+    assert_equal(["(", crossref("#fred"), ")"].flatten, @am.flow("(#fred)"))
   end
 
   def test_tt_html