diff --git a/myst_parser/mdit_to_docutils/sphinx_.py b/myst_parser/mdit_to_docutils/sphinx_.py
index 1569131f..aab4c2e7 100644
--- a/myst_parser/mdit_to_docutils/sphinx_.py
+++ b/myst_parser/mdit_to_docutils/sphinx_.py
@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@ def _process_wrap_node(
     ):
         """Process a wrap node, which is a node that wraps a link."""
         self.add_line_and_source_path(wrap_node, token)
-        self.copy_attributes(token, wrap_node, ("class", "id", "title"))
+        self.copy_attributes(
+            token, wrap_node, ("class", "id", "reftitle"), aliases={"title": "reftitle"}
+        )
         self.current_node.append(wrap_node)
 
         if explicit:
diff --git a/myst_parser/mdit_to_docutils/transforms.py b/myst_parser/mdit_to_docutils/transforms.py
index a7f9427d..6479f7e3 100644
--- a/myst_parser/mdit_to_docutils/transforms.py
+++ b/myst_parser/mdit_to_docutils/transforms.py
@@ -340,6 +340,8 @@ def apply(self, **kwargs: t.Any) -> None:
                 )
                 if labelid:
                     pending["reflocalid"] = labelid
+                if "reftitle" in refnode:
+                    pending["reftitle"] = refnode["reftitle"]
                 inner_node = nodes.inline(
                     "", "", classes=["xref", "myst"] + refnode["classes"]
                 )
diff --git a/myst_parser/sphinx_ext/myst_refs.py b/myst_parser/sphinx_ext/myst_refs.py
index bdb89b54..54f7f703 100644
--- a/myst_parser/sphinx_ext/myst_refs.py
+++ b/myst_parser/sphinx_ext/myst_refs.py
@@ -144,6 +144,11 @@ def run(self, **kwargs: Any) -> None:
             elif not newnode.children:
                 newnode.append(nodes.literal(target, target))
 
+            if "reftitle" in node and "reftitle" not in newnode:
+                # carry the link title, e.g. [text](#target "title"),
+                # through whichever branch resolved the reference
+                newnode["reftitle"] = node["reftitle"]
+
             node.replace_self(newnode)
 
     def _std_label_id_in_doc(self, docname: str, ref_id: str) -> str | None:
@@ -226,6 +231,8 @@ def resolve_myst_ref_doc(self, node: pending_xref):
             )
         except NoUri:
             ref_node = innernode
+        if "reftitle" in node:
+            ref_node["reftitle"] = node["reftitle"]
         node.replace_self(ref_node)
 
     def resolve_myst_ref_any(
diff --git a/tests/test_renderers/test_myst_refs.py b/tests/test_renderers/test_myst_refs.py
index bfb98f69..e5949b76 100644
--- a/tests/test_renderers/test_myst_refs.py
+++ b/tests/test_renderers/test_myst_refs.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import sys
 
 import pytest
+from docutils import nodes
 from sphinx.util.console import strip_colors
 from sphinx_pytest.plugin import CreateDoctree
 
@@ -142,3 +143,32 @@ def test_slug_id_stays_secondary_under_sortids(sphinx_doctree: CreateDoctree):
     for section in doctree.findall(docutils_nodes.section):
         assert section["ids"][0].startswith("id"), section["ids"]
         assert section["slug"] in section["ids"][1:], section["ids"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "test_name,text",
+    [
+        ("doc_root_anchor", '# Title\n\n[a](#index "TT")'),
+        ("heading_anchor", '# Title\n\n## Section\n\n[a](#section "TT")'),
+        ("explicit_target", '(target)=\n# Title\n\n[a](#target "TT")'),
+        ("doc", '# Title\n\n[a](index.md "TT")'),
+        ("doc_with_target_id", '(ref)=\n# Title\n\n[a](index.md#ref "TT")'),
+        ("unresolved", '# Title\n\n[a](#nope "TT")'),
+    ],
+)
+def test_link_title_is_kept(
+    test_name: str, text: str, sphinx_doctree: CreateDoctree
+) -> None:
+    """A CommonMark link title must survive cross-reference resolution.
+
+    Only two of these branches used to keep it; the rest built a fresh node
+    and dropped the title on the way.
+    """
+    sphinx_doctree.set_conf({"extensions": ["myst_parser"]})
+    doctree = sphinx_doctree(text, "index.md").get_resolved_doctree("index")
+    titles = [
+        node["reftitle"]
+        for node in doctree.findall(nodes.reference)
+        if "reftitle" in node
+    ]
+    assert titles == ["TT"], doctree.pformat()