diff --git a/src/components/markdown/markdown.tsx b/src/components/markdown/markdown.tsx
index e36e8810..4d7d72f1 100644
--- a/src/components/markdown/markdown.tsx
+++ b/src/components/markdown/markdown.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import React, { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next';
 import ReactMarkdown from 'react-markdown';
+import remarkBreaks from 'remark-breaks';
 import remarkGfm from 'remark-gfm';
 import supersub from 'remark-supersub';
 import rehypeSanitize, { defaultSchema } from 'rehype-sanitize';
@@ -128,7 +129,7 @@ interface MarkdownProps {
 }
 
 const Markdown = ({ content, title }: MarkdownProps) => {
-  const remarkPlugins: any[] = [[supersub]];
+  const remarkPlugins: any[] = [[remarkBreaks, supersub]];
 
   if (content && content.length <= MAX_LENGTH_FOR_GFM) {
     remarkPlugins.push([remarkGfm, { singleTilde: false }]);
@@ -150,6 +151,14 @@ const Markdown = ({ content, title }: MarkdownProps) => {
 
   const isInCatalogView = isCatalogView(useLocation().pathname, useParams());
 
+  // retain empty lines
+  const processedContent = useMemo(() => {
+    let md = content;
+    md = md.replace(/```[\s\S]*?```/g, (m) => m.replace(/\n/g, '\n '));
+    md = md.replace(/(?<=\n\n)(?![*-])\n/g, '&nbsp;\n ');
+    return md;
+  }, [content]);
+
   return (
     <span className={styles.markdown}>
       {isInCatalogView && title && (
@@ -159,7 +168,7 @@ const Markdown = ({ content, title }: MarkdownProps) => {
         </span>
       )}
       <ReactMarkdown
-        children={content.replace(/\n/g, '\n\n')} // single newlines would be rendered as spaces
+        children={processedContent}
         remarkPlugins={remarkPlugins}
         rehypePlugins={[[rehypeSanitize, customSchema]]}
         components={{
diff --git a/src/components/post-form/post-form.tsx b/src/components/post-form/post-form.tsx
index 84e0ec69..e053ec98 100644
--- a/src/components/post-form/post-form.tsx
+++ b/src/components/post-form/post-form.tsx
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ const PostFormTable = ({ closeForm, postCid }: { closeForm: () => void; postCid:
               wrap='soft'
               ref={textRef}
               onChange={(e) => {
-                const content = e.target.value.replace(/\n/g, '\n\n');
+                const content = e.target.value;
                 isInPostView ? setPublishReplyOptions({ content }) : setSubmitStore({ content });
               }}
             />
diff --git a/src/components/reply-modal/reply-modal.tsx b/src/components/reply-modal/reply-modal.tsx
index 57cf1e6f..6dcc06b4 100644
--- a/src/components/reply-modal/reply-modal.tsx
+++ b/src/components/reply-modal/reply-modal.tsx
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ const ReplyModal = ({ closeModal, showReplyModal, parentCid, postCid, scrollY, s
   };
 
   const handleContentChange = (e: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLTextAreaElement>) => {
-    const contentWithoutPrefix = e.target.value.slice(contentPrefix.length).replace(/\n/g, '\n\n');
+    const contentWithoutPrefix = e.target.value.slice(contentPrefix.length);
     if (textRef.current && textRef.current.value !== contentWithoutPrefix) {
       setPublishReplyOptions({ content: contentWithoutPrefix });
     }