diff --git a/bits/22_xmlutils.js b/bits/22_xmlutils.js
index 944faa8..201b0ee 100644
--- a/bits/22_xmlutils.js
+++ b/bits/22_xmlutils.js
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@ function escapexml(text/*:string*/, xml/*:?boolean*/)/*:string*/{
 }
 function escapexmltag(text/*:string*/)/*:string*/{ return escapexml(text).replace(/ /g,"_x0020_"); }
 
+function escapehtml(text){
+	var s = text + '';
+	return s.replace(decregex, function(y) { return rencoding[y]; });
+}
+
 /* TODO: handle codepages */
 var xlml_fixstr/*:StringConv*/ = (function() {
 	var entregex = /&#(\d+);/g;
diff --git a/bits/42_sstxml.js b/bits/42_sstxml.js
index 5de5c4c..f3e2461 100644
--- a/bits/42_sstxml.js
+++ b/bits/42_sstxml.js
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ function parse_si(x, opts) {
 	if(x.match(/^\s*<(?:\w+:)?t[^>]*>/)) {
 		z.t = utf8read(unescapexml(x.substr(x.indexOf(">")+1).split(/<\/(?:\w+:)?t>/)[0]));
 		z.r = utf8read(x);
-		if(html) z.h = z.t;
+		if(html) z.h = escapehtml(z.t);
 	}
 	/* 18.4.4 r CT_RElt (Rich Text Run) */
 	else if((y = x.match(sirregex))) {
diff --git a/bits/67_wsxml.js b/bits/67_wsxml.js
index e25d10b..c58a3a1 100644
--- a/bits/67_wsxml.js
+++ b/bits/67_wsxml.js
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ return function parse_ws_xml_data(sdata, s, opts, guess, themes, styles) {
 				case 'str':
 					p.t = "s";
 					p.v = (p.v!=null) ? utf8read(p.v) : '';
-					if(opts.cellHTML) p.h = p.v;
+					if(opts.cellHTML) p.h = escapehtml(p.v);
 					break;
 				case 'inlineStr':
 					cref = d.match(isregex);
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index 3302a6d..2b8e928 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -956,6 +956,25 @@ describe('parse features', function() {
 		}); });
 	});
 
+	describe('HTML', function() {
+		var ws, wb;
+		var bef = (function() {
+			ws = X.utils.aoa_to_sheet([
+				["a","b","c"],
+				["&","<",">"]
+			]);
+			wb = {SheetNames:["Sheet1"],Sheets:{Sheet1:ws}};
+		});
+		if(typeof before != 'undefined') before(bef);
+		else it('before', bef);
+		['xlsx'].forEach(function(m) { it(m, function() {
+			var wb2 = X.read(X.write(wb, {bookType:m, type:"binary"}),{type:"binary", cellHTML:true});
+			assert.equal(get_cell(wb2.Sheets.Sheet1, "A2").h, "&amp;");
+			assert.equal(get_cell(wb2.Sheets.Sheet1, "B2").h, "&lt;");
+			assert.equal(get_cell(wb2.Sheets.Sheet1, "C2").h, "&gt;");
+		}); });
+	});
+
 	describe('page margins', function() {
 		function check_margin(margins, exp) {
 			assert.equal(margins.left, exp[0]);
diff --git a/xlsx.flow.js b/xlsx.flow.js
index 8f5a4d7..a6ecf85 100644
--- a/xlsx.flow.js
+++ b/xlsx.flow.js
@@ -1605,6 +1605,11 @@ function escapexml(text/*:string*/, xml/*:?boolean*/)/*:string*/{
 }
 function escapexmltag(text/*:string*/)/*:string*/{ return escapexml(text).replace(/ /g,"_x0020_"); }
 
+function escapehtml(text){
+	var s = text + '';
+	return s.replace(decregex, function(y) { return rencoding[y]; });
+}
+
 /* TODO: handle codepages */
 var xlml_fixstr/*:StringConv*/ = (function() {
 	var entregex = /&#(\d+);/g;
@@ -5774,7 +5779,7 @@ function parse_si(x, opts) {
 	if(x.match(/^\s*<(?:\w+:)?t[^>]*>/)) {
 		z.t = utf8read(unescapexml(x.substr(x.indexOf(">")+1).split(/<\/(?:\w+:)?t>/)[0]));
 		z.r = utf8read(x);
-		if(html) z.h = z.t;
+		if(html) z.h = escapehtml(z.t);
 	}
 	/* 18.4.4 r CT_RElt (Rich Text Run) */
 	else if((y = x.match(sirregex))) {
@@ -10190,7 +10195,7 @@ return function parse_ws_xml_data(sdata, s, opts, guess, themes, styles) {
 				case 'str':
 					p.t = "s";
 					p.v = (p.v!=null) ? utf8read(p.v) : '';
-					if(opts.cellHTML) p.h = p.v;
+					if(opts.cellHTML) p.h = escapehtml(p.v);
 					break;
 				case 'inlineStr':
 					cref = d.match(isregex);
diff --git a/xlsx.js b/xlsx.js
index 8519e87..e56cf7c 100644
--- a/xlsx.js
+++ b/xlsx.js
@@ -1554,6 +1554,11 @@ function escapexml(text, xml){
 }
 function escapexmltag(text){ return escapexml(text).replace(/ /g,"_x0020_"); }
 
+function escapehtml(text){
+	var s = text + '';
+	return s.replace(decregex, function(y) { return rencoding[y]; });
+}
+
 /* TODO: handle codepages */
 var xlml_fixstr = (function() {
 	var entregex = /&#(\d+);/g;
@@ -5718,7 +5723,7 @@ function parse_si(x, opts) {
 	if(x.match(/^\s*<(?:\w+:)?t[^>]*>/)) {
 		z.t = utf8read(unescapexml(x.substr(x.indexOf(">")+1).split(/<\/(?:\w+:)?t>/)[0]));
 		z.r = utf8read(x);
-		if(html) z.h = z.t;
+		if(html) z.h = escapehtml(z.t);
 	}
 	/* 18.4.4 r CT_RElt (Rich Text Run) */
 	else if((y = x.match(sirregex))) {
@@ -10133,7 +10138,7 @@ return function parse_ws_xml_data(sdata, s, opts, guess, themes, styles) {
 				case 'str':
 					p.t = "s";
 					p.v = (p.v!=null) ? utf8read(p.v) : '';
-					if(opts.cellHTML) p.h = p.v;
+					if(opts.cellHTML) p.h = escapehtml(p.v);
 					break;
 				case 'inlineStr':
 					cref = d.match(isregex);