diff --git a/dist/index.js b/dist/index.js
index ff432d3..48e5905 100644
--- a/dist/index.js
+++ b/dist/index.js
@@ -128,10 +128,12 @@ async function run(env, body, fs, core) {
         .map((item, index, arr) => {
           const line = item.trim();
 
-          if (line.startsWith("- [")) {
+          // Allow the use of checkboxes in a textarea and transform the section into an array only when the section starts with a checkbox. 
+          // This doesn't cover the case when the textarea starts with a checkbox followed by text.
+          if (index === 1 && line.startsWith("- [")) {
             return line.split(/\r?\n/).map((check) => {
               const field = check.replace(/- \[[X\s]\]\s+/i, "");
-              const previousIndex = index === 0 ? index : index - 1;
+              const previousIndex = Math.max(0, index - 1);
               const key = arr[previousIndex].trim();
               // set the type of the field to checkboxes to ensure that values will be represented as an array
               // even when issue-form template is not provided or wrong template is provided
diff --git a/fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/expected.json b/fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/expected.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3e553bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/expected.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  "description": "Some text:\n\n- [ ] Red\n- [ ] Green\n- [ ] Blue\n\nMore text"
+}
diff --git a/fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/form.yml b/fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/form.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1eaedbe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/form.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+body:
+  - type: textarea
+    id: description
+    attributes:
+      label: Description
diff --git a/fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/issue-body.md b/fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/issue-body.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e1952b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/issue-body.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+### Description
+
+Some text:
+
+- [ ] Red
+- [ ] Green
+- [ ] Blue
+
+More text
diff --git a/fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/issue.js b/fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/issue.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6851c74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/issue.js
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+const { resolve } = require("path");
+const { readFileSync } = require("fs");
+
+const issueBodyPath = resolve(__dirname, "issue-body.md");
+
+module.exports = readFileSync(issueBodyPath, "utf-8")
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 53cc884..54eaffb 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -122,10 +122,12 @@ async function run(env, body, fs, core) {
         .map((item, index, arr) => {
           const line = item.trim();
 
-          if (line.startsWith("- [")) {
+          // Allow the use of checkboxes in a textarea and transform the section into an array only when the section starts with a checkbox. 
+          // This doesn't cover the case when the textarea starts with a checkbox followed by text.
+          if (index === 1 && line.startsWith("- [")) {
             return line.split(/\r?\n/).map((check) => {
               const field = check.replace(/- \[[X\s]\]\s+/i, "");
-              const previousIndex = index === 0 ? index : index - 1;
+              const previousIndex = Math.max(0, index - 1);
               const key = arr[previousIndex].trim();
               // set the type of the field to checkboxes to ensure that values will be represented as an array
               // even when issue-form template is not provided or wrong template is provided
diff --git a/test.spec.js b/test.spec.js
index c3ce9bc..60ac00b 100644
--- a/test.spec.js
+++ b/test.spec.js
@@ -174,6 +174,45 @@ it("multiple paragraphs", () => {
   expect(core.setOutput.mock.calls.length).toBe(3)
 });
 
+it("checkboxes in textarea", () => {
+  const expectedOutput = require("./fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/expected.json");
+  const expectedOutputJson = JSON.stringify(expectedOutput, null, 2);
+
+  // mock ENV
+  const env = {
+    HOME: "<home path>",
+  };
+
+  // mock event payload
+  const eventPayload = require("./fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/issue");
+
+  // mock fs
+  const fs = {
+    readFileSync(path, encoding) {
+      expect(path).toBe("<template-path>");
+      expect(encoding).toBe("utf8");
+      return readFileSync("fixtures/checkboxes-in-textarea/form.yml", "utf-8");
+    },
+    writeFileSync(path, content) {
+      expect(path).toBe("<home path>/issue-parser-result.json");
+      expect(content).toBe(expectedOutputJson);
+    },
+  };
+
+  // mock core
+  const core = {
+    getInput: jest.fn(() => '<template-path>'),
+    setOutput: jest.fn(),
+  };
+
+  run(env, eventPayload, fs, core);
+
+  expect(core.getInput).toHaveBeenCalledWith('template-path')
+  expect(core.setOutput).toHaveBeenCalledWith('jsonString', JSON.stringify(expectedOutput, null, 2))
+  expect(core.setOutput).toHaveBeenCalledWith('issueparser_description', 'Some text:\n\n- [ ] Red\n- [ ] Green\n- [ ] Blue\n\nMore text')
+  expect(core.setOutput.mock.calls.length).toBe(2)
+});
+
 it("blank", () => {
   const expectedOutput = require("./fixtures/blank/expected.json");
   const expectedOutputJson = JSON.stringify(expectedOutput, null, 2);