diff --git a/src/tools/hashline-edit/validation.test.ts b/src/tools/hashline-edit/validation.test.ts
index b41d748d..751a90b9 100644
--- a/src/tools/hashline-edit/validation.test.ts
+++ b/src/tools/hashline-edit/validation.test.ts
@@ -74,6 +74,28 @@ describe("parseLineRef", () => {
     //#then
     expect(result).toEqual({ line: 42, hash: "VK" })
   })
+
+  it("accepts refs copied with >>> marker only", () => {
+    //#given
+    const ref = ">>> 42#VK"
+
+    //#when
+    const result = parseLineRef(ref)
+
+    //#then
+    expect(result).toEqual({ line: 42, hash: "VK" })
+  })
+
+  it("accepts refs with spaces around hash separator", () => {
+    //#given
+    const ref = "42 # VK"
+
+    //#when
+    const result = parseLineRef(ref)
+
+    //#then
+    expect(result).toEqual({ line: 42, hash: "VK" })
+  })
 })
 
 describe("validateLineRef", () => {
diff --git a/src/tools/hashline-edit/validation.ts b/src/tools/hashline-edit/validation.ts
index d3368d85..fc5b395a 100644
--- a/src/tools/hashline-edit/validation.ts
+++ b/src/tools/hashline-edit/validation.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,13 @@ const MISMATCH_CONTEXT = 2
 const LINE_REF_EXTRACT_PATTERN = /([0-9]+#[ZPMQVRWSNKTXJBYH]{2})/
 
 function normalizeLineRef(ref: string): string {
-  const trimmed = ref.trim()
+  const originalTrimmed = ref.trim()
+  let trimmed = originalTrimmed
+  trimmed = trimmed.replace(/^(?:>>>|[+-])\s*/, "")
+  trimmed = trimmed.replace(/\s*#\s*/, "#")
+  trimmed = trimmed.replace(/\|.*$/, "")
+  trimmed = trimmed.trim()
+
   if (HASHLINE_REF_PATTERN.test(trimmed)) {
     return trimmed
   }
@@ -26,7 +32,7 @@ function normalizeLineRef(ref: string): string {
     return extracted[1]
   }
 
-  return trimmed
+  return originalTrimmed
 }
 
 export function parseLineRef(ref: string): LineRef {