diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py
index b7c3cb63f..f3f102c30 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py
@@ -1326,9 +1326,9 @@ class YoutubeIE(YoutubeBaseInfoExtractor):
         if video_description:
             video_description = re.sub(r'''(?x)
                 <a\s+
-                    (?:[a-zA-Z-]+="[^"]+"\s+)*?
+                    (?:[a-zA-Z-]+="[^"]*"\s+)*?
                     (?:title|href)="([^"]+)"\s+
-                    (?:[a-zA-Z-]+="[^"]+"\s+)*?
+                    (?:[a-zA-Z-]+="[^"]*"\s+)*?
                     class="(?:yt-uix-redirect-link|yt-uix-sessionlink[^"]*)"[^>]*>
                 [^<]+\.{3}\s*
                 </a>