diff --git a/.changeset/eleven-bugs-report.md b/.changeset/eleven-bugs-report.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b75b251
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/eleven-bugs-report.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'markdown-to-jsx': patch
+---
+
+Handle paragraph splitting better, fixes #641.
diff --git a/index.compiler.spec.tsx b/index.compiler.spec.tsx
index 007f3a9..1bc9b95 100644
--- a/index.compiler.spec.tsx
+++ b/index.compiler.spec.tsx
@@ -2574,6 +2574,56 @@ describe('GFM tables', () => {
       </table>
     `)
   })
+
+  it('#641 handles only a single newline prior to the start of the table', () => {
+    render(
+      compiler(theredoc`
+      Test
+      | Nested HTML                        | Link                         |
+      | ---------------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
+      | <div><strong>Nested</strong></div> | [I'm a \`link\`](www.google.com) |
+    `)
+    )
+
+    expect(root.innerHTML).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+      <div>
+        <p>
+          Test
+        </p>
+        <table>
+          <thead>
+            <tr>
+              <th>
+                Nested HTML
+              </th>
+              <th>
+                Link
+              </th>
+            </tr>
+          </thead>
+          <tbody>
+            <tr>
+              <td>
+                <div>
+                  <strong>
+                    Nested
+                  </strong>
+                </div>
+              </td>
+              <td>
+                <a href="www.google.com">
+                  I'm a
+                  <code>
+                    link
+                  </code>
+                </a>
+              </td>
+            </tr>
+          </tbody>
+        </table>
+      </div>
+    `)
+  })
 })
 
 describe('arbitrary HTML', () => {
diff --git a/index.tsx b/index.tsx
index d35018d..96f4b51 100644
--- a/index.tsx
+++ b/index.tsx
@@ -942,12 +942,16 @@ function matchParagraph(source: string, state: MarkdownToJSX.State) {
   let match = ''
 
   source.split('\n').every(line => {
+    line += '\n'
+
     // bail out on first sign of non-paragraph block
     if (NON_PARAGRAPH_BLOCK_SYNTAXES.some(regex => regex.test(line))) {
       return false
     }
-    match += line + '\n'
-    return line.trim()
+
+    match += line
+
+    return !!line.trim()
   })
 
   const captured = match.trimEnd()