diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 30dea8c..ca42440 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 .idea
 *.gem
-*.pdf
\ No newline at end of file
+*.pdf
+*.html
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/asciidoctor-lists/extensions.rb b/lib/asciidoctor-lists/extensions.rb
index 1518118..b158f2b 100644
--- a/lib/asciidoctor-lists/extensions.rb
+++ b/lib/asciidoctor-lists/extensions.rb
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ def process(document)
          document.find_by(context: eval(element_name)).each do |element|
 
            if element.caption
-             element.id = SecureRandom.uuid
+             unless element.id
+               element.id = SecureRandom.uuid
+             end
              references_asciidoc << %(xref:#{element.id}[#{element.caption}]#{element.title} +)
            end
          end