diff --git a/server/services/backlinks.js b/server/services/backlinks.js
index e6f4720f0..56547b9a3 100644
--- a/server/services/backlinks.js
+++ b/server/services/backlinks.js
@@ -44,6 +44,14 @@ export default class Backlinks {
           order: [["createdAt", "desc"]],
           limit: 2,
         });
+
+        // before parsing document text we must make sure it's been migrated to
+        // the latest version or the parser may fail on version differences
+        await currentRevision.migrateVersion();
+        if (previousRevision) {
+          await previousRevision.migrateVersion();
+        }
+
         const previousLinkIds = previousRevision
           ? parseDocumentIds(previousRevision.text)
           : [];
diff --git a/server/services/backlinks.test.js b/server/services/backlinks.test.js
index b2c849da6..4335bb35e 100644
--- a/server/services/backlinks.test.js
+++ b/server/services/backlinks.test.js
@@ -32,6 +32,32 @@ describe("documents.update", () => {
     expect(backlinks.length).toBe(1);
   });
 
+  test("should not fail when previous revision is different document version", async () => {
+    const otherDocument = await buildDocument();
+    const document = await buildDocument({
+      version: null,
+      text: `[ ] checklist item`,
+    });
+
+    document.text = `[this is a link](${otherDocument.url})`;
+    await document.save();
+
+    await Backlinks.on({
+      name: "documents.update",
+      documentId: document.id,
+      collectionId: document.collectionId,
+      teamId: document.teamId,
+      actorId: document.createdById,
+      data: { autosave: false },
+    });
+
+    const backlinks = await Backlink.findAll({
+      where: { reverseDocumentId: document.id },
+    });
+
+    expect(backlinks.length).toBe(1);
+  });
+
   test("should create new backlink records", async () => {
     const otherDocument = await buildDocument();
     const document = await buildDocument();