diff --git a/blots/cursor.js b/blots/cursor.js
index 320dd1920b..feca853adf 100644
--- a/blots/cursor.js
+++ b/blots/cursor.js
@@ -59,7 +59,8 @@ class Cursor extends EmbedBlot {
   restore() {
     if (this.selection.composing || this.parent == null) return null;
     const range = this.selection.getNativeRange();
-    // Link format will insert text outside of anchor tag
+    // Browser may push down styles/nodes inside the cursor blot.
+    // https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/editing/raw-file/tip/editing.html#push-down-values
     while (
       this.domNode.lastChild != null &&
       this.domNode.lastChild !== this.textNode
@@ -144,6 +145,31 @@ class Cursor extends EmbedBlot {
     }
   }
 
+  // Avoid .ql-cursor being a descendant of `<a/>`.
+  // The reason is Safari pushes down `<a/>` on text insertion.
+  // That will make DOM nodes not sync with the model.
+  //
+  // For example ({I} is the caret), given the markup:
+  //    <a><span class="ql-cursor">\uFEFF{I}</span></a>
+  // When typing a char "x", `<a/>` will be pushed down inside the `<span>` first:
+  //    <span class="ql-cursor"><a>\uFEFF{I}</a></span>
+  // And then "x" will be inserted after `<a/>`:
+  //    <span class="ql-cursor"><a>\uFEFF</a>d{I}</span>
+  optimize(context) {
+    super.optimize(context);
+
+    let { parent } = this;
+    while (parent) {
+      if (parent.domNode.tagName === 'A') {
+        this.savedLength = Cursor.CONTENTS.length;
+        parent.isolate(this.offset(parent), this.length()).unwrap();
+        this.savedLength = 0;
+        break;
+      }
+      parent = parent.parent;
+    }
+  }
+
   value() {
     return '';
   }
diff --git a/modules/clipboard.js b/modules/clipboard.js
index 8eadd406a6..fc5a81d088 100644
--- a/modules/clipboard.js
+++ b/modules/clipboard.js
@@ -155,7 +155,8 @@ class Clipboard extends Module {
     if (!html && files.length > 0) {
       this.quill.uploader.upload(range, files);
       return;
-    } else if (html && files.length > 0) {
+    }
+    if (html && files.length > 0) {
       const doc = new DOMParser().parseFromString(html, 'text/html');
       if (
         doc.body.childElementCount === 1 &&
diff --git a/test/unit/core/selection.js b/test/unit/core/selection.js
index 164f5f8bed..1419c8d161 100644
--- a/test/unit/core/selection.js
+++ b/test/unit/core/selection.js
@@ -441,6 +441,40 @@ describe('Selection', function() {
         <p>01<em><span class="ql-cursor">${Cursor.CONTENTS}</span></em>23</p>
       `);
     });
+
+    describe('unlink cursor', function() {
+      const cursorHTML = `<span class="ql-cursor">${Cursor.CONTENTS}</span>`;
+
+      it('one level', function() {
+        this.setup(
+          '<p><strong><a href="https://example.com">link</a></strong></p><p><br></p>',
+          4,
+        );
+        this.selection.format('bold', false);
+        expect(this.container).toEqualHTML(`
+          <p><strong><a href="https://example.com">link</a></strong>${cursorHTML}</p><p><br></p>
+        `);
+      });
+
+      it('nested formats', function() {
+        this.setup(
+          '<p><strong><em><a href="https://example.com">bold</a></em></strong></p><p><br></p>',
+          4,
+        );
+        this.selection.format('italic', false);
+        expect(this.container).toEqualHTML(`
+          <p><strong><em><a href="https://example.com">bold</a></em>${cursorHTML}</strong></p><p><br></p>
+        `);
+      });
+
+      it('ignore link format', function() {
+        this.setup('<p><strong>bold</strong></p><p><br></p>', 4);
+        this.selection.format('link', 'https://example.com');
+        expect(this.container).toEqualHTML(`
+          <p><strong>bold${cursorHTML}</strong></p><p><br></p>
+        `);
+      });
+    });
   });
 
   describe('getBounds()', function() {