diff --git a/core/modules/widgets/link.js b/core/modules/widgets/link.js
index 15a99ce2c..f46349a2c 100755
--- a/core/modules/widgets/link.js
+++ b/core/modules/widgets/link.js
@@ -64,21 +64,26 @@ LinkWidget.prototype.renderLink = function(parent,nextSibling) {
 	var domNode = this.document.createElement(tag);
 	// Assign classes
 	var classes = [];
-	if(this.linkClasses) {
+	if(this.enforceClasses === undefined) {
+		classes.push("tc-tiddlylink");
+		if(this.isShadow) {
+			classes.push("tc-tiddlylink-shadow");
+		}
+		if(this.isMissing && !this.isShadow) {
+			classes.push("tc-tiddlylink-missing");
+		} else {
+			if(!this.isMissing) {
+				classes.push("tc-tiddlylink-resolves");
+			}
+		}
 		classes.push(this.linkClasses);
 	}
-	classes.push("tc-tiddlylink");
-	if(this.isShadow) {
-		classes.push("tc-tiddlylink-shadow");
+	else if (this.enforceClasses !== "") {
+		classes.push(this.enforceClasses);
 	}
-	if(this.isMissing && !this.isShadow) {
-		classes.push("tc-tiddlylink-missing");
-	} else {
-		if(!this.isMissing) {
-			classes.push("tc-tiddlylink-resolves");
-		}
+	if(classes.length > 0) {
+		domNode.setAttribute("class",classes.join(" "));
 	}
-	domNode.setAttribute("class",classes.join(" "));
 	// Set an href
 	var wikilinkTransformFilter = this.getVariable("tv-filter-export-link"),
 		wikiLinkText;
@@ -169,6 +174,7 @@ LinkWidget.prototype.execute = function() {
 	this.tooltip = this.getAttribute("tooltip");
 	this["aria-label"] = this.getAttribute("aria-label");
 	this.linkClasses = this.getAttribute("class");
+	this.enforceClasses = this.getAttribute("setClass");;
 	this.tabIndex = this.getAttribute("tabindex");
 	this.draggable = this.getAttribute("draggable","yes");
 	this.linkTag = this.getAttribute("tag","a");
diff --git a/editions/tw5.com/tiddlers/widgets/LinkWidget.tid b/editions/tw5.com/tiddlers/widgets/LinkWidget.tid
index 076b26187..882584ebb 100644
--- a/editions/tw5.com/tiddlers/widgets/LinkWidget.tid
+++ b/editions/tw5.com/tiddlers/widgets/LinkWidget.tid
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 caption: link
 created: 20131024141900000
-modified: 20170907141926550
+modified: 20171212063130159
 tags: Widgets
 title: LinkWidget
 type: text/vnd.tiddlywiki
@@ -11,11 +11,13 @@ The `link` widget generates links to tiddlers. (Use the HTML `<a>` element to ge
 
 |!Attribute |!Description |
 |to |The title of the target tiddler for the link (defaults to the [[current tiddler|Current Tiddler]]) |
-|aria-label |Optional [[Accessibility]] label |
+|aria-label |Optional accessibility label |
 |tooltip |Optional tooltip WikiText |
 |tabindex |Optional numeric [[tabindex|https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/HTMLElement/tabIndex]] |
 |draggable |"yes" to enable the link to be draggable (defaults to "yes") |
 |tag |Optional tag to override the default "a" element |
+|class|Optional css classes __in addition to__ the default classes (see below)|
+|setClass|Optional css classes __instead of__ the default classes <<.from-version "5.1.16">>|
 
 The content of the link widget is rendered within the `<a>` tag. The draggable functionality is equivalent to using the DraggableWidget with the ''tiddler'' attribute set to the link target.
 
@@ -54,12 +56,20 @@ This causes the tooltip to be the ''tooltip'' field of the target tiddler. If th
 
 ! CSS Classes
 
+The link widget automatically determines and applies the following classes to links:
+
 * `tc-tiddlylink` - applied to all links
 * `tc-tiddlylink-external` - applied to external, non-tiddler links
 * `tc-tiddlylink-internal` - applied to tiddler links
 * `tc-tiddlylink-missing` - applied to tiddler links where the target tiddler doesn't exist
 * `tc-tiddlylink-resolves` - applied to tiddler links when the target tiddler does exist
 
+Use the `class` attribute to specify additional css classes, or `setClass` to apply only that but not the above defaults, e.g. when used in a LinkCatcherWidget:
+
+<<wikitext-example-without-html """*<$link class="example">Here</$link> the `example` class is added.
+*<$link setClass="example">Here</$link> only the `example` class applies.
+*<$link setClass="">Here</$link> no class is set.""">>
+
 ! `href` generation
 
 The following process is used to generate the `href` attribute of the generated HTML `<a>` element: