diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/parts/debug/browser/linkDetector.ts b/src/vs/workbench/parts/debug/browser/linkDetector.ts
index 55657a248279d3e4eb780bf1298723f7688a0421..e75ea50966428fceea4c19260c038441e219f548 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/parts/debug/browser/linkDetector.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/parts/debug/browser/linkDetector.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import { IWorkspaceContextService } from 'vs/platform/workspace/common/workspace
 export class LinkDetector {
 	private static FILE_LOCATION_PATTERNS: RegExp[] = [
 		// group 0: full path with line and column
-		// group 1: full path without line and column, matched by `*.*` in the end to work only on paths with extensions in the end (s.t. http://test.com:8000 would not match)
+		// group 1: full path without line and column, matched by `*.*` in the end to work only on paths with extensions in the end (s.t. node:10352 would not match)
 		// group 2: drive letter on windows with trailing backslash or leading slash on mac/linux
 		// group 3: line number, matched by (:(\d+))
 		// group 4: column number, matched by ((?::(\d+))?)
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/parts/debug/electron-browser/replViewer.ts b/src/vs/workbench/parts/debug/electron-browser/replViewer.ts
index f9fa4c9fbdd307c0b9eef6fa34b3bff4b7fb2733..3442772f59c3df22bd2fd542a65243818a12b6d6 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/parts/debug/electron-browser/replViewer.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/parts/debug/electron-browser/replViewer.ts
@@ -86,11 +86,13 @@ export class ReplExpressionsRenderer implements IRenderer {
 	private width: number;
 	private characterWidth: number;
 
+	private linkDetector: LinkDetector;
+
 	constructor(
 		@IWorkbenchEditorService private editorService: IWorkbenchEditorService,
 		@IInstantiationService private instantiationService: IInstantiationService
 	) {
-		// noop
+		this.linkDetector = this.instantiationService.createInstance(LinkDetector);
 	}
 
 	public getHeight(tree: ITree, element: any): number {
@@ -319,8 +321,7 @@ export class ReplExpressionsRenderer implements IRenderer {
 
 						// flush text buffer if we have any
 						if (buffer) {
-							const linkDetector = this.instantiationService.createInstance(LinkDetector);
-							this.insert(linkDetector.handleLinks(buffer), currentToken || tokensContainer);
+							this.insert(this.linkDetector.handleLinks(buffer), currentToken || tokensContainer);
 							buffer = '';
 						}
 
@@ -340,8 +341,7 @@ export class ReplExpressionsRenderer implements IRenderer {
 
 		// flush remaining text buffer if we have any
 		if (buffer) {
-			const linkDetector = this.instantiationService.createInstance(LinkDetector);
-			let res = linkDetector.handleLinks(buffer);
+			let res = this.linkDetector.handleLinks(buffer);
 			if (typeof res !== 'string' || currentToken) {
 				if (!tokensContainer) {
 					tokensContainer = document.createElement('span');