diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/utilities.js.es6 b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/utilities.js.es6
index 0e0d438ce3c..aadf2dcc2bd 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/utilities.js.es6
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/utilities.js.es6
@@ -104,6 +104,8 @@ export function selectedText() {
   $div.find(".clicks").remove();
   // replace emojis
   $div.find("img.emoji").replaceWith(function() { return this.title; });
+  // replace br with newlines
+  $div.find("br").replaceWith(() => "\n")
 
   return String($div.text()).trim();
 }