diff --git a/bibtexbrowser-test.php b/bibtexbrowser-test.php
index e4b79ad..50a5639 100755
--- a/bibtexbrowser-test.php
+++ b/bibtexbrowser-test.php
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ class BTBTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
     $btb->update_internal("inline", $test_data);    
     $first_entry=$btb->bibdb[array_keys($btb->bibdb)[0]];
     $this->assertEquals('<a href="myarticle.pdf">[pdf]</a>',$first_entry->getLink('pdf'));    
-    $this->assertEquals('<a href="myarticle.pdf">[pdf]</a>',$first_entry->getUrlLink());    
+    $this->assertEquals('<a href="myarticle.pdf">[pdf]</a>',$first_entry->getPdfLink());    
     $this->assertEquals('<a href="myarticle.pdf"><img class="icon" src="pdficon.png" alt="[pdf]" title="pdf"/></a>',$first_entry->getLink('pdf','pdficon.png'));
     $this->assertEquals('<a href="myarticle.pdf">[see]</a>',$first_entry->getLink('pdf',NULL,'see'));    
   }
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ class BTBTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
     $btb = new BibDataBase();
     $btb->update_internal("inline", $test_data);    
     $first_entry=$btb->bibdb[array_keys($btb->bibdb)[0]];
-    $this->assertEquals('<a href="myarticle.pdf">[pdf]</a>',$first_entry->getUrlLink());    
+    $this->assertEquals('<a href="myarticle.pdf">[pdf]</a>',$first_entry->getPdfLink());    
   }
 
   // https://github.com/monperrus/bibtexbrowser/issues/40
@@ -332,6 +332,40 @@ class BTBTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
         $this->assertEquals(2,count($dis->getKeywords()));
     }
 
+    # https://github.com/monperrus/bibtexbrowser/pull/51
+    function test_emptyGetPdfLink() {
+        $bibtex = "
+        @article{aKey,
+            title={\`a Book},
+            author={Martin Monperrus},
+            publisher={Springer},
+            year=2009,
+            pages={42--4242},
+            number=1
+        }
+        @article{bKey,
+            url={magic.pdf},
+        }
+        @article{cKey,
+            pdf={magic2.pdf},
+            url={magic3}
+        }";
+        $test_data = fopen('php://memory','x+');
+        fwrite($test_data, $bibtex);
+        fseek($test_data,0);
+        $db = new BibDataBase();
+        $db->update_internal("inline", $test_data);
+        
+        $dis = $db->getEntryByKey('aKey');
+        $this->assertEquals("",$dis->getPdfLink());
+        
+        $dis = $db->getEntryByKey('bKey');
+        $this->assertEquals('<a href="magic.pdf">[pdf]</a>',$dis->getPdfLink());
+        
+        $dis = $db->getEntryByKey('cKey');
+        $this->assertEquals('<a href="magic2.pdf">[pdf]</a>',$dis->getPdfLink());
+    }
+
     function test_formatting() {
 
         $bibtex = "@article{aKey61,title={An article Book},author = {Meyer, Heribert  and   {Advanced Air and Ground Research Team} and Foo Bar}}\n";
@@ -426,7 +460,6 @@ class BTBTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
         $this->assertEquals("Foo Bar", $authors[2]);
    }
    
-    
 } // end class
 
 ?>
diff --git a/bibtexbrowser.php b/bibtexbrowser.php
index 2e2fe6f..aeb0744 100755
--- a/bibtexbrowser.php
+++ b/bibtexbrowser.php
@@ -1273,19 +1273,27 @@ class BibEntry {
     return $link;
   }
 
-  /** returns a "[pdf]" link if relevant. modified to exploit the new method, while keeping backward compatibility */
-  function getUrlLink($iconurl = NULL, $label = 'pdf') {
-    if ($this->hasField('url')) {
-      return $this->getLink('url', $iconurl, $label);
-    }
+  /** same as `getPdfLink`, kept for backward compatibility */
+  function getUrlLink($iconurl, $label) {
+    return $this->getPdfLink($iconurl, $label);
+  }
+  
+  /** returns a "[pdf]" link for the entry, if possible.
+      Tries to get the target URL from the 'pdf' field first, then from 'url' or 'file'.
+    */
+  function getPdfLink($iconurl = NULL, $label = 'pdf') {
     if ($this->hasField('pdf')) {
       return $this->getLink('pdf', $iconurl, $label);
     }
+    if ($this->hasField('url')) {
+      return $this->getLink('url', $iconurl, $label);
+    }
     // Adding link to PDF file exported by Zotero
     // ref: https://github.com/monperrus/bibtexbrowser/pull/14
     if ($this->hasField('file')) {
       return $this->getLink('file', $iconurl, $label);
     }
+    return "";
   }
 
 
@@ -1913,7 +1921,7 @@ function bib2links_default(&$bibentry) {
   }
 
   if (BIBTEXBROWSER_PDF_LINKS) {
-    $link = $bibentry->getUrlLink();
+    $link = $bibentry->getPdfLink();
     if ($link != '') { $links[] = $link; };
   }