diff --git a/src/panel/widgets/notifications/single-notification.cpp b/src/panel/widgets/notifications/single-notification.cpp
index 4e3fd5d5..e4b5453d 100644
--- a/src/panel/widgets/notifications/single-notification.cpp
+++ b/src/panel/widgets/notifications/single-notification.cpp
@@ -116,11 +116,12 @@ WfSingleNotification::WfSingleNotification(const Notification & notification)
     text.set_wrap_mode(Pango::WrapMode::CHAR);
     if (notification.body.empty())
     {
-        text.set_markup(notification.summary);
+        text.set_markup(markup_escape(notification.summary));
     } else
     {
         // NOTE: that is not a really right way to implement FDN markup feature, but the easiest one.
-        text.set_markup("<b>" + notification.summary + "</b>" + "\n" + notification.body);
+        text.set_markup("<b>" + markup_escape(
+            notification.summary) + "</b>" + "\n" + markup_escape(notification.body));
     }
 
     content.append(text);
diff --git a/src/panel/widgets/tray/item.cpp b/src/panel/widgets/tray/item.cpp
index fae84034..4b02ef99 100644
--- a/src/panel/widgets/tray/item.cpp
+++ b/src/panel/widgets/tray/item.cpp
@@ -167,10 +167,11 @@ void StatusNotifierItem::setup_tooltip()
             get_item_property<std::tuple<Glib::ustring, IconData, Glib::ustring, Glib::ustring>>("ToolTip");
 
         auto tooltip_label_text = !tooltip_text.empty() && !tooltip_title.empty() ?
-            "<b>" + tooltip_title + "</b>: " + tooltip_text :
-            !tooltip_title.empty() ? tooltip_title :
-            !tooltip_text.empty() ? tooltip_text :
-            get_item_property<Glib::ustring>("Title");
+            "<b>" + markup_escape(tooltip_title) + "</b>: " +
+            markup_escape(tooltip_text) :
+            !tooltip_title.empty() ? markup_escape(tooltip_title) :
+            !tooltip_text.empty() ? markup_escape(tooltip_text) :
+            markup_escape(get_item_property<Glib::ustring>("Title"));
 
         const auto pixbuf = extract_pixbuf(std::move(tooltip_icon_data));
         bool icon_shown   = false;
diff --git a/src/util/gtk-utils.cpp b/src/util/gtk-utils.cpp
index e25f1ad9..ee910a12 100644
--- a/src/util/gtk-utils.cpp
+++ b/src/util/gtk-utils.cpp
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#include "glibmm/markup.h"
 #include "glibmm/ustring.h"
 #include <gtk-utils.hpp>
 #include <glibmm.h>
@@ -180,3 +181,34 @@ void load_custom_icons(std::string section_name)
     }
 }
 }
+
+/*
+ * Check if this string appears to be markup
+ *
+ * Does not check it is *valid* markup
+ */
+bool is_markup(std::string input)
+{
+    int count_left  = std::count(input.begin(), input.end(), '<');
+    int count_right = std::count(input.begin(), input.end(), '>');
+    int count_amp   = std::count(input.begin(), input.end(), '&');
+    int count_semi  = std::count(input.begin(), input.end(), ';');
+
+    if ((count_left == count_right) && (count_amp == count_semi))
+    {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    return false;
+}
+
+/* Escape string if it doesn't appear to be markup */
+std::string markup_escape(std::string input)
+{
+    if (is_markup(input))
+    {
+        return input;
+    }
+
+    return Glib::Markup::escape_text(input);
+}
diff --git a/src/util/gtk-utils.hpp b/src/util/gtk-utils.hpp
index 3b73e972..4c584a37 100644
--- a/src/util/gtk-utils.hpp
+++ b/src/util/gtk-utils.hpp
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ Glib::RefPtr<Gdk::Pixbuf> load_icon_pixbuf_safe(std::string icon_path, int size)
 /* Loads a CssProvider from the given path to the file, returns null if unsuccessful*/
 Glib::RefPtr<Gtk::CssProvider> load_css_from_path(std::string path);
 
+bool is_markup(std::string);
+std::string markup_escape(std::string);
+
 struct WfIconLoadOptions
 {
     int user_scale = -1;