diff --git a/MANUAL.txt b/MANUAL.txt
--- a/MANUAL.txt
+++ b/MANUAL.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 % Pandoc User's Guide
 % John MacFarlane
-% August 5, 2018
+% August 6, 2018
 
 Synopsis
 ========
diff --git a/changelog b/changelog
--- a/changelog
+++ b/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+pandoc (2.2.3.1)
+
+  * Markdown reader: Fix parsing of embedded mappings in YAML metadata
+    (#4817).  This fixes a regression in 2.2.3 which caused embedded
+    mappings (e.g. mappings in sequences) not to work in YAML metadata.
+
 pandoc (2.2.3)
 
   * RST reader: improve parsing of inline interpreted text roles (#4811).
diff --git a/man/pandoc.1 b/man/pandoc.1
--- a/man/pandoc.1
+++ b/man/pandoc.1
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 .\"t
-.TH PANDOC 1 "August 5, 2018" "pandoc 2.2.3"
+.TH PANDOC 1 "August 6, 2018" "pandoc 2.2.3.1"
 .SH NAME
 pandoc - general markup converter
 .SH SYNOPSIS
diff --git a/pandoc.cabal b/pandoc.cabal
--- a/pandoc.cabal
+++ b/pandoc.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:            pandoc
-version:         2.2.3
+version:         2.2.3.1
 cabal-version:   2.0
 build-type:      Custom
 license:         GPL-2
diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/Markdown.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/Markdown.hs
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/Markdown.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/Markdown.hs
@@ -243,14 +243,9 @@
   optional blanklines
   case YAML.decodeNode' YAML.failsafeSchemaResolver False False
                (UTF8.fromStringLazy rawYaml) of
-       Right [YAML.Doc (YAML.Mapping _ hashmap)] -> do
-         let alist = M.toList hashmap
-         mapM_ (\(key, v) ->
-           case key of
-                (YAML.Scalar (YAML.SStr t))       -> handleKey t v
-                (YAML.Scalar (YAML.SUnknown _ t)) -> handleKey t v
-                _                -> fail "Non-string key in YAML mapping") alist
-           where handleKey k v =
+       Right [YAML.Doc (YAML.Mapping _ hashmap)] ->
+         mapM_ (\(key, v) -> do
+                    k <- nodeToKey key
                     if ignorable k
                        then return ()
                        else do
@@ -263,7 +258,8 @@
                                     Just _ -> return m
                                     Nothing -> do
                                       v'' <- v'
-                                      return $ B.setMeta (T.unpack k) v'' m}
+                                      return $ B.setMeta (T.unpack k) v'' m})
+               (M.toList hashmap)
        Right [] -> return ()
        Right [YAML.Doc (YAML.Scalar YAML.SNull)] -> return ()
        Right _ -> do
@@ -277,6 +273,11 @@
                     return ()
   return mempty
 
+nodeToKey :: Monad m => YAML.Node -> m Text
+nodeToKey (YAML.Scalar (YAML.SStr t))       = return t
+nodeToKey (YAML.Scalar (YAML.SUnknown _ t)) = return t
+nodeToKey _                                 = fail "Non-string key in YAML mapping"
+
 -- ignore fields ending with _
 ignorable :: Text -> Bool
 ignorable t = (T.pack "_") `T.isSuffixOf` t
@@ -315,22 +316,19 @@
   return $ do
     xs'' <- sequence xs'
     return $ B.toMetaValue xs''
-yamlToMeta (YAML.Mapping _ o) = do
-  let alist = M.toList o
-  foldM (\m (key, v) ->
-     case YAML.parseEither (YAML.parseYAML key) of
-          Left e  -> fail e
-          Right k -> do
-           if ignorable k
-              then return m
-              else do
-                v' <- yamlToMeta v
-                return $ do
-                   MetaMap m' <- m
-                   v'' <- v'
-                   return (MetaMap $ M.insert (T.unpack k) v'' m'))
+yamlToMeta (YAML.Mapping _ o) =
+  foldM (\m (key, v) -> do
+          k <- nodeToKey key
+          if ignorable k
+             then return m
+             else do
+               v' <- yamlToMeta v
+               return $ do
+                  MetaMap m' <- m
+                  v'' <- v'
+                  return (MetaMap $ M.insert (T.unpack k) v'' m'))
         (return $ MetaMap M.empty)
-        alist
+        (M.toList o)
 yamlToMeta _ = return $ return $ MetaString ""
 
 stopLine :: PandocMonad m => MarkdownParser m ()
diff --git a/test/command/4817.md b/test/command/4817.md
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/command/4817.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+```
+% pandoc -t native -s
+---
+foo:
+- bar: bam
+...
+^D
+Pandoc (Meta {unMeta = fromList [("foo",MetaList [MetaMap (fromList [("bar",MetaInlines [Str "bam"])])])]})
+[]
+```