diff --git a/myst_parser/docutils_renderer.py b/myst_parser/docutils_renderer.py
index eba7718b..5ac476d9 100644
--- a/myst_parser/docutils_renderer.py
+++ b/myst_parser/docutils_renderer.py
@@ -677,7 +677,7 @@ def render_link(self, token: SyntaxTreeNode) -> None:
             or any scheme if  `myst_url_schemes` is None.
         - Otherwise, forward to `render_internal_link`
         """
-        if token.markup == "autolink":
+        if token.info == "auto":  # handles both autolink and linkify
             return self.render_autolink(token)
 
         if self.md_config.all_links_external:
@@ -733,10 +733,12 @@ def render_internal_link(self, token: SyntaxTreeNode) -> None:
             self.render_children(token)
 
     def render_autolink(self, token: SyntaxTreeNode) -> None:
-        refuri = target = escapeHtml(token.attrGet("href") or "")  # type: ignore[arg-type]
-        ref_node = nodes.reference(target, target, refuri=refuri)
+        refuri = escapeHtml(token.attrGet("href") or "")  # type: ignore[arg-type]
+        ref_node = nodes.reference()
+        ref_node["refuri"] = refuri
         self.add_line_and_source_path(ref_node, token)
-        self.current_node.append(ref_node)
+        with self.current_node_context(ref_node, append=True):
+            self.render_children(token)
 
     def render_html_inline(self, token: SyntaxTreeNode) -> None:
         self.render_html_block(token)
diff --git a/tests/test_renderers/fixtures/myst-config.txt b/tests/test_renderers/fixtures/myst-config.txt
index ef4a81f6..b482a401 100644
--- a/tests/test_renderers/fixtures/myst-config.txt
+++ b/tests/test_renderers/fixtures/myst-config.txt
@@ -24,3 +24,13 @@ title: "The title *nested syntax*"
         <title>
             Other header
 .
+
+[linkify] --myst-enable-extensions=linkify
+.
+www.example.com
+.
+<document source="<string>">
+    <paragraph>
+        <reference refuri="http://www.example.com">
+            www.example.com
+.