diff --git a/mkdocs.yml b/mkdocs.yml
index 4a32954..ea70acf 100644
--- a/mkdocs.yml
+++ b/mkdocs.yml
@@ -94,6 +94,8 @@ markdown_extensions:
     permalink: "¤"
 
 plugins:
+- autorefs:
+    scan_anchors: true
 - search
 - markdown-exec
 - gen-files:
diff --git a/src/mkdocs_autorefs/plugin.py b/src/mkdocs_autorefs/plugin.py
index 2556c89..899975a 100644
--- a/src/mkdocs_autorefs/plugin.py
+++ b/src/mkdocs_autorefs/plugin.py
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 from urllib.parse import urlsplit
 
 from mkdocs.plugins import BasePlugin
+from mkdocs.config.base import Config
+from mkdocs.config.config_options import Type
 
 from mkdocs_autorefs.references import AutorefsExtension, fix_refs, relative_url
 
@@ -37,7 +39,11 @@
     log = logging.getLogger(f"mkdocs.plugins.{__name__}")  # type: ignore[assignment]
 
 
-class AutorefsPlugin(BasePlugin):
+class AutorefsConfig(Config):
+    scan_anchors = Type(bool, default=False)
+
+
+class AutorefsPlugin(BasePlugin[AutorefsConfig]):
     """An `mkdocs` plugin.
 
     This plugin defines the following event hooks:
@@ -50,7 +56,7 @@ class AutorefsPlugin(BasePlugin):
     for more information about its plugin system.
     """
 
-    scan_html_tags: bool = False
+    scan_anchors: bool = False
     scan_toc: bool = True
     current_page: str | None = None
 
@@ -61,14 +67,14 @@ def __init__(self) -> None:
         self._abs_url_map: dict[str, str] = {}
         self.get_fallback_anchor: Callable[[str], str | None] | None = None
 
-    def register_anchor(self, page: str, identifier: str) -> None:
+    def register_anchor(self, page: str, identifier: str, anchor: str | None = None) -> None:
         """Register that an anchor corresponding to an identifier was encountered when rendering the page.
 
         Arguments:
             page: The relative URL of the current page. Examples: `'foo/bar/'`, `'foo/index.html'`
             identifier: The HTML anchor (without '#') as a string.
         """
-        self._url_map[identifier] = f"{page}#{identifier}"
+        self._url_map[identifier] = f"{page}#{anchor or identifier}"
 
     def register_url(self, identifier: str, url: str) -> None:
         """Register that the identifier should be turned into a link to this URL.
@@ -173,10 +179,9 @@ def on_page_content(self, html: str, page: Page, **kwargs: Any) -> str:  # noqa:
             for item in page.toc.items:
                 self.map_urls(page.url, item)
 
-        if self.scan_html_tags:
-            # Matches any html anchors with the id property (e.g. <a id="xx">)
-            for match in re.findall(r"""<a .*?id=["']([_\w-]*)["'].*?>""", html):
-                self.register_anchor(page.url, match)
+        if self.config.scan_anchors or self.scan_anchors:
+            for href, id in re.findall(r'<a(?:\s+href="([^"]*)")?\s+id="([^"]+)">', html):
+                self.register_anchor(page.url, identifier=id, anchor=href.lstrip("#"))
 
         return html
 
diff --git a/tests/test_plugin.py b/tests/test_plugin.py
index 8acd446..5fb0906 100644
--- a/tests/test_plugin.py
+++ b/tests/test_plugin.py
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 import pytest
 
 from mkdocs_autorefs.plugin import AutorefsPlugin
+from mkdocs.structure.pages import Page
+from mkdocs.structure.files import File
 
 
 def test_url_registration() -> None:
@@ -60,3 +62,23 @@ def test_dont_make_relative_urls_relative_again() -> None:
             plugin.get_item_url("hello", from_url="baz/bar/foo.html", fallback=lambda _: ("foo.bar.baz",))
             == "../../foo/bar/baz.html#foo.bar.baz"
         )
+
+
+def test_register_html_anchors() -> None:
+    """Check that HT?ML anchors are registered when enabled."""
+    plugin = AutorefsPlugin()
+    plugin.scan_toc = False
+    plugin.config["scan_anchors"] = plugin.scan_anchors = True
+
+    class Page:
+        url = "/page/url"
+
+    plugin.on_page_content(
+        """
+        <a id="foo.bar">
+        <a  id="foo.baz" >
+        """,
+        page=Page(),
+    )
+    assert "foo.bar" in plugin._url_map
+    assert "foo.baz" in plugin._url_map