diff --git a/tabulate/__init__.py b/tabulate/__init__.py
index 12a2950..9e47401 100644
--- a/tabulate/__init__.py
+++ b/tabulate/__init__.py
@@ -795,7 +795,7 @@ def escape_empty(val):
     |
         # terminal hyperlinks
         {_osc}8;        # OSC opening
-        (\w+=\w+:?)*    # key=value params list (submatch 2)
+        (\w+=\w+(?::\w+=\w+)*:?)?  # key=value params list (submatch 2)
         ;               # delimiter
         ([^{_esc}]+)    # URI - anything but ESC (submatch 3)
         {_st}           # ST
diff --git a/test/test_regression.py b/test/test_regression.py
index 9555676..c730173 100644
--- a/test/test_regression.py
+++ b/test/test_regression.py
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 """Regression tests."""
 
+import time
+
 from tabulate import DataRow, Line, TableFormat, tabulate
 
 from common import assert_equal, skip
@@ -598,3 +600,13 @@ def test_github_escape_pipe_character():
     result = tabulate([["foo|bar"]], headers=("spam|eggs",), tablefmt="github")
     expected = "| spam\\|eggs   |\n|:------------|\n| foo\\|bar     |"
     assert_equal(expected, result)
+
+
+def test_osc8_link_params_no_catastrophic_backtracking():
+    "Regression: unterminated OSC 8 link params must not backtrack exponentially"
+    cell = "\x1b]8;a=" + "aaaa=" * 16
+    start = time.perf_counter()
+    result = tabulate([[cell]], tablefmt="plain")
+    elapsed = time.perf_counter() - start
+    assert_equal(cell, result)
+    assert elapsed < 1.0