diff --git a/pywb/rewrite/html_rewriter.py b/pywb/rewrite/html_rewriter.py
index f0c904c2..618c5191 100644
--- a/pywb/rewrite/html_rewriter.py
+++ b/pywb/rewrite/html_rewriter.py
@@ -174,6 +174,12 @@ class HTMLRewriterMixin(object):
elif attr_name == 'crossorigin':
attr_name = '_crossorigin'
+ # special case: link don't rewrite canonical
+ elif tag == 'link' and attr_name == 'href':
+ if not self.has_attr(tag_attrs, ('rel', 'canonical')):
+ rw_mod = handler.get(attr_name)
+ attr_value = self._rewrite_url(attr_value, rw_mod)
+
# special case: meta tag
elif (tag == 'meta') and (attr_name == 'content'):
if self.has_attr(tag_attrs, ('http-equiv', 'refresh')):
diff --git a/pywb/rewrite/test/test_html_rewriter.py b/pywb/rewrite/test/test_html_rewriter.py
index 45df4dfb..710fa338 100644
--- a/pywb/rewrite/test/test_html_rewriter.py
+++ b/pywb/rewrite/test/test_html_rewriter.py
@@ -102,6 +102,10 @@ ur"""
>>> parse('SomeTest
', head_insert = '')
SomeTest
+# don't rewrite rel=canonical
+>>> parse('')
+
+
# doctype
>>> parse('')