diff --git a/docs/html-table-support.md b/docs/html-table-support.md
index 3c64cc74..6e255006 100644
--- a/docs/html-table-support.md
+++ b/docs/html-table-support.md
@@ -16,3 +16,9 @@ rest of the document.
   <tr><td>1</td><td>2</td></tr>
 </table>
 ```
+
+The converter checks the first table row for `<th>` cells or for `<strong>` or
+`<b>` tags inside `<td>` elements to decide whether it is a header. If no such
+markers exist and the table contains multiple rows, the first row is still
+treated as the header, so the Markdown output includes a separator line. This
+last-resort behaviour keeps simple tables readable after conversion.
diff --git a/src/html.rs b/src/html.rs
index 83b347a9..61a867ee 100644
--- a/src/html.rs
+++ b/src/html.rs
@@ -113,6 +113,24 @@ fn contains_strong(handle: &Handle) -> bool {
     children.iter().any(contains_strong)
 }
 
+/// Extracts cell text from a row and reports whether all cells are header cells.
+fn parse_row(row: &Handle) -> (Vec<String>, bool) {
+    let mut cells = Vec::new();
+    let mut all_header = true;
+    for child in row.children.borrow().iter() {
+        if is_table_cell(child) {
+            let is_header = if is_element(child, "th") {
+                true
+            } else {
+                contains_strong(child)
+            };
+            all_header &= is_header;
+            cells.push(node_text(child));
+        }
+    }
+    (cells, all_header)
+}
+
 /// Converts a `<table>` DOM node into Markdown table lines and calls
 /// `reflow_table` so the columns are uniformly padded.
 fn table_node_to_markdown(table: &Handle) -> Vec<String> {
@@ -122,33 +140,23 @@ fn table_node_to_markdown(table: &Handle) -> Vec<String> {
         return Vec::new();
     }
 
+    let (first_cells, explicit_header) = parse_row(&row_handles[0]);
+    let col_count = first_cells.len();
+    let fallback_header = !explicit_header && row_handles.len() > 1;
+    let has_header = explicit_header || fallback_header;
+
     let mut out = Vec::new();
-    let mut first_header = false;
-    let mut col_count = 0;
-    for (i, row) in row_handles.iter().enumerate() {
-        let mut cells = Vec::new();
-        let mut all_header = true;
-        for child in row.children.borrow().iter() {
-            if is_table_cell(child) {
-                let is_header = if is_element(child, "th") {
-                    true
-                } else {
-                    contains_strong(child)
-                };
-                all_header &= is_header;
-                cells.push(node_text(child));
-            }
-        }
-        if i == 0 {
-            first_header = all_header;
-            col_count = cells.len();
-        }
+    out.push(format!("| {} |", first_cells.join(" | ")));
+    for row in row_handles.iter().skip(1) {
+        let (cells, _) = parse_row(row);
         out.push(format!("| {} |", cells.join(" | ")));
     }
-    if first_header {
+
+    if has_header {
         let sep: Vec<String> = (0..col_count).map(|_| "---".to_string()).collect();
         out.insert(1, format!("| {} |", sep.join(" | ")));
     }
+
     crate::reflow_table(&out)
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/integration.rs b/tests/integration.rs
index 959685b8..c7b738ee 100644
--- a/tests/integration.rs
+++ b/tests/integration.rs
@@ -101,6 +101,36 @@ fn html_table_no_header() -> Vec<String> {
     )
 }
 
+#[fixture]
+fn html_table_empty_row() -> Vec<String> {
+    lines_vec!(
+        "<table>",
+        "<tr></tr>",
+        "<tr><td>1</td><td>2</td></tr>",
+        "</table>",
+    )
+}
+
+#[fixture]
+fn html_table_whitespace_header() -> Vec<String> {
+    lines_vec!(
+        "<table>",
+        "<tr><td>  </td><td>  </td></tr>",
+        "<tr><td>1</td><td>2</td></tr>",
+        "</table>",
+    )
+}
+
+#[fixture]
+fn html_table_inconsistent_first_row() -> Vec<String> {
+    lines_vec!(
+        "<table>",
+        "<tr><td>A</td></tr>",
+        "<tr><td>1</td><td>2</td></tr>",
+        "</table>",
+    )
+}
+
 #[fixture]
 fn html_table_empty() -> Vec<String> {
     let lines = lines_vec!("<table></table>");
@@ -457,10 +487,34 @@ fn test_convert_html_table_with_colspan() {
 
 #[test]
 fn test_convert_html_table_no_header() {
-    let expected = vec!["| A | B |", "| 1 | 2 |"];
+    let expected = vec!["| A | B |", "| --- | --- |", "| 1 | 2 |"];
     assert_eq!(convert_html_tables(&html_table_no_header()), expected);
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn test_convert_html_table_empty_row() {
+    let expected = vec!["| 1 | 2 |", "| --- | --- |"];
+    assert_eq!(convert_html_tables(&html_table_empty_row()), expected);
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_convert_html_table_whitespace_header() {
+    let expected = vec!["| --- | --- |", "| --- | --- |", "| 1   | 2   |"];
+    assert_eq!(
+        convert_html_tables(&html_table_whitespace_header()),
+        expected
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_convert_html_table_inconsistent_first_row() {
+    let expected = vec!["| A |", "| --- |", "| 1 | 2 |"];
+    assert_eq!(
+        convert_html_tables(&html_table_inconsistent_first_row()),
+        expected
+    );
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn test_convert_html_table_empty() {
     assert!(convert_html_tables(&html_table_empty()).is_empty());