diff --git a/wagtail/admin/rich_text/converters/html_to_contentstate.py b/wagtail/admin/rich_text/converters/html_to_contentstate.py
index 545165a01..6a429944f 100644
--- a/wagtail/admin/rich_text/converters/html_to_contentstate.py
+++ b/wagtail/admin/rich_text/converters/html_to_contentstate.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ from wagtail.admin.rich_text.converters.contentstate_models import (
 )
 from wagtail.admin.rich_text.converters.html_ruleset import HTMLRuleset
 from wagtail.core.models import Page
+from wagtail.documents.models import get_document_model
 
 
 class HandlerState(object):
@@ -171,6 +172,20 @@ class PageLinkElementHandler(LinkElementHandler):
         return data
 
 
+class DocumentLinkElementHandler(LinkElementHandler):
+    def get_attribute_data(self, attrs):
+        Document = get_document_model()
+        try:
+            doc = Document.objects.get(id=attrs['id'])
+        except Document.DoesNotExist:
+            return {}
+
+        return {
+            'id': doc.id,
+            'url': doc.url,
+        }
+
+
 class AtomicBlockEntityElementHandler(object):
     """
     Handler for elements like <img> that exist as a single immutable item at the block level
@@ -237,6 +252,9 @@ ELEMENT_HANDLERS_BY_FEATURE = {
         'a[href]': ExternalLinkElementHandler('LINK'),
         'a[linktype="page"]': PageLinkElementHandler('LINK'),
     },
+    'document-link': {
+        'a[linktype="document"]': DocumentLinkElementHandler('DOCUMENT'),
+    },
     # 'img': ImageElementHandler(),
 }
 
diff --git a/wagtail/admin/tests/test_contentstate.py b/wagtail/admin/tests/test_contentstate.py
index 877aad182..fa034e9e4 100644
--- a/wagtail/admin/tests/test_contentstate.py
+++ b/wagtail/admin/tests/test_contentstate.py
@@ -278,3 +278,47 @@ class TestHtmlToContentState(TestCase):
                 },
             ]
         })
+
+    def test_document_link(self):
+        converter = ContentstateConverter(features=['document-link'])
+        result = json.loads(converter.from_database_format(
+            '''
+            <p>a <a linktype="document" id="1">document</a> link</p>
+            '''
+        ))
+        self.assertContentStateEqual(result, {
+            'entityMap': {
+                '0': {
+                    'mutability': 'MUTABLE', 'type': 'DOCUMENT',
+                    'data': {'id': 1, 'url': '/documents/1/test.pdf'}
+                }
+            },
+            'blocks': [
+                {
+                    'inlineStyleRanges': [], 'text': 'a document link', 'depth': 0, 'type': 'unstyled', 'key': '00000',
+                    'entityRanges': [{'offset': 2, 'length': 8, 'key': 0}]
+                },
+            ]
+        })
+
+    def test_broken_document_link(self):
+        converter = ContentstateConverter(features=['document-link'])
+        result = json.loads(converter.from_database_format(
+            '''
+            <p>a <a linktype="document" id="9999">document</a> link</p>
+            '''
+        ))
+        self.assertContentStateEqual(result, {
+            'entityMap': {
+                '0': {
+                    'mutability': 'MUTABLE', 'type': 'DOCUMENT',
+                    'data': {}
+                }
+            },
+            'blocks': [
+                {
+                    'inlineStyleRanges': [], 'text': 'a document link', 'depth': 0, 'type': 'unstyled', 'key': '00000',
+                    'entityRanges': [{'offset': 2, 'length': 8, 'key': 0}]
+                },
+            ]
+        })