diff --git a/app/helpers/gitlab_markdown_helper.rb b/app/helpers/gitlab_markdown_helper.rb
index 225caca1f42..b742419fbfe 100644
--- a/app/helpers/gitlab_markdown_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/gitlab_markdown_helper.rb
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ module GitlabMarkdownHelper
       path:         @path,
       project:      @project,
       project_wiki: @project_wiki,
-      ref:          @ref,
+      ref:          @ref
     )
 
     Gitlab::Markdown.render(text, context)
@@ -61,6 +61,14 @@ module GitlabMarkdownHelper
   # TODO (rspeicher): Remove all usages of this helper and just call `markdown`
   # with a custom pipeline depending on the content being rendered
   def gfm(text, options = {})
+    options.merge!(
+      current_user: current_user,
+      path:         @path,
+      project:      @project,
+      project_wiki: @project_wiki,
+      ref:          @ref
+    )
+
     Gitlab::Markdown.gfm(text, options)
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/features/gitlab_flavored_markdown_spec.rb b/spec/features/gitlab_flavored_markdown_spec.rb
index 0c1bc53cdb5..7852c39fee2 100644
--- a/spec/features/gitlab_flavored_markdown_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/features/gitlab_flavored_markdown_spec.rb
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ describe "GitLab Flavored Markdown", feature: true do
     it "should render details in issues#show" do
       visit namespace_project_issue_path(project.namespace, project, @issue)
 
-      expect(page).to have_link("@#{fred.username}")
+      expect(page).to have_link(fred.to_reference)
     end
   end