diff --git a/src/ast-types.ts b/src/ast-types.ts
index f3e98c0..b6b1a83 100644
--- a/src/ast-types.ts
+++ b/src/ast-types.ts
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ export interface OptionType<T extends InputNodeTypes = InputNodeTypes> {
   linkDestinationKey?: string;
   imageSourceKey?: string;
   imageCaptionKey?: string;
+  lineBreakSymbol?: string;
 }
 
 export interface MdastNode {
diff --git a/src/deserialize.ts b/src/deserialize.ts
index 9d4322a..1d4dcda 100644
--- a/src/deserialize.ts
+++ b/src/deserialize.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ export default function deserialize<T extends InputNodeTypes>(
   const linkDestinationKey = opts?.linkDestinationKey ?? 'link';
   const imageSourceKey = opts?.imageSourceKey ?? 'link';
   const imageCaptionKey = opts?.imageCaptionKey ?? 'caption';
+  const lineBreakSymbol = opts?.lineBreakSymbol ?? '<br>';
 
   let children: Array<DeserializedNode<T>> = [{ text: '' }];
 
@@ -87,11 +88,13 @@ export default function deserialize<T extends InputNodeTypes>(
       } as CodeBlockNode<T>;
 
     case 'html':
-      if (node.value?.includes('<br>')) {
+      if (node.value?.includes(lineBreakSymbol)) {
+        const regexp = new RegExp(lineBreakSymbol, 'g');
+
         return {
           break: true,
           type: types.paragraph,
-          children: [{ text: node.value?.replace(/<br>/g, '') || '' }],
+          children: [{ text: node.value?.replace(regexp, '') || '' }],
         } as ParagraphNode<T>;
       }
       return { type: 'paragraph', children: [{ text: node.value || '' }] };
diff --git a/src/serialize.ts b/src/serialize.ts
index d525d03..9ced8ec 100644
--- a/src/serialize.ts
+++ b/src/serialize.ts
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@ import { BlockType, defaultNodeTypes, LeafType, NodeTypes } from './ast-types';
 import escapeHtml from 'escape-html';
 
 interface Options {
-  nodeTypes: NodeTypes;
+  nodeTypes?: NodeTypes;
   listDepth?: number;
   ignoreParagraphNewline?: boolean;
+  // lineBreakSymbol is used as an attempt to persist whitespace across serialize and deserialize
+  lineBreakSymbol?: string;
 }
 
 const isLeafNode = (node: BlockType | LeafType): node is LeafType => {
@@ -13,16 +15,15 @@ const isLeafNode = (node: BlockType | LeafType): node is LeafType => {
 
 const VOID_ELEMENTS: Array<keyof NodeTypes> = ['thematic_break', 'image'];
 
-const BREAK_TAG = '<br>';
-
 export default function serialize(
   chunk: BlockType | LeafType,
-  opts: Options = { nodeTypes: defaultNodeTypes }
+  opts: Options = {}
 ) {
   const {
     nodeTypes: userNodeTypes = defaultNodeTypes,
     ignoreParagraphNewline = false,
     listDepth = 0,
+    lineBreakSymbol = '<br>',
   } = opts;
 
   let text = (chunk as LeafType).text || '';
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ export default function serialize(
           { ...c, parentType: type },
           {
             nodeTypes,
+            lineBreakSymbol,
             // WOAH.
             // what we're doing here is pretty tricky, it relates to the block below where
             // we check for ignoreParagraphNewline and set type to paragraph.
@@ -107,7 +109,7 @@ export default function serialize(
     chunk.parentType === nodeTypes.paragraph
   ) {
     type = nodeTypes.paragraph;
-    children = BREAK_TAG;
+    children = lineBreakSymbol;
   }
 
   if (children === '' && !VOID_ELEMENTS.find((k) => nodeTypes[k] === type))
@@ -120,7 +122,7 @@ export default function serialize(
   // we try applying formatting like to a node like this:
   // "Text foo bar **baz**" resulting in "**Text foo bar **baz****"
   // which is invalid markup and can mess everything up
-  if (children !== BREAK_TAG && isLeafNode(chunk)) {
+  if (children !== lineBreakSymbol && isLeafNode(chunk)) {
     if (chunk.strikeThrough && chunk.bold && chunk.italic) {
       children = retainWhitespaceAndFormat(children, '~~***');
     } else if (chunk.bold && chunk.italic) {
diff --git a/test/serialize/__snapshots__/serialize-lineBreakSymbol.test.ts.snap b/test/serialize/__snapshots__/serialize-lineBreakSymbol.test.ts.snap
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ef813d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/serialize/__snapshots__/serialize-lineBreakSymbol.test.ts.snap
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+// Jest Snapshot v1, https://goo.gl/fbAQLP
+
+exports[`Deserialize and serialize mix of break tags and new lines 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Object {
+    "children": Array [
+      Object {
+        "text": "a
+",
+      },
+      Object {
+        "break": true,
+        "children": Array [
+          Object {
+            "text": "",
+          },
+        ],
+        "type": "paragraph",
+      },
+    ],
+    "type": "paragraph",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "children": Array [
+      Object {
+        "children": Array [
+          Object {
+            "text": "https://a.com",
+          },
+        ],
+        "link": "https://a.com",
+        "type": "link",
+      },
+      Object {
+        "text": "
+",
+      },
+      Object {
+        "break": true,
+        "children": Array [
+          Object {
+            "text": "",
+          },
+        ],
+        "type": "paragraph",
+      },
+    ],
+    "type": "paragraph",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "children": Array [
+      Object {
+        "text": "e",
+      },
+    ],
+    "type": "paragraph",
+  },
+]
+`;
+
+exports[`Deserialize heading with new line 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Object {
+    "children": Array [
+      Object {
+        "text": "heading one",
+      },
+    ],
+    "type": "heading_one",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "break": true,
+    "children": Array [
+      Object {
+        "text": "",
+      },
+    ],
+    "type": "paragraph",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "children": Array [
+      Object {
+        "text": "Foo",
+      },
+    ],
+    "type": "paragraph",
+  },
+]
+`;
diff --git a/test/serialize/serialize-lineBreakSymbol.test.ts b/test/serialize/serialize-lineBreakSymbol.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9488616
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/serialize/serialize-lineBreakSymbol.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+import unified from 'unified';
+import parse from 'remark-parse';
+import plugin, { serialize } from '../../src';
+import { LeafType, BlockType } from '../../src/ast-types';
+
+const mdown = `a
+<foo>
+
+[https://a.com](https://a.com)
+<foo>
+
+e
+`;
+
+test('Deserialize and serialize mix of break tags and new lines', (done) => {
+  const lineBreakSymbol = '<foo>';
+
+  unified()
+    .use(parse)
+    .use(plugin, { lineBreakSymbol })
+    .process(mdown, (_, file) => {
+      const res = file.result as (LeafType | BlockType)[];
+      expect(res).toMatchSnapshot();
+
+      const fin = res.map((v) => serialize(v, { lineBreakSymbol })).join('');
+
+      expect(fin).toEqual(mdown);
+      done();
+    });
+});
+
+const headingWithNewLine = `# heading one
+<oxo>
+
+Foo
+`;
+
+test('Deserialize heading with new line', (done) => {
+  unified()
+    .use(parse)
+    .use(plugin, { lineBreakSymbol: '<oxo>' })
+    .process(headingWithNewLine, (_, file) => {
+      const res = file.result as (LeafType | BlockType)[];
+      expect(res).toMatchSnapshot();
+
+      const fin = res
+        .map((v) => serialize(v, { lineBreakSymbol: '<oxo>' }))
+        .join('');
+
+      expect(fin).toEqual(headingWithNewLine);
+      done();
+    });
+});