diff --git a/actions/peoplesearch.php b/actions/peoplesearch.php
index 045d99e39a..5d10140173 100644
--- a/actions/peoplesearch.php
+++ b/actions/peoplesearch.php
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ class PeoplesearchAction extends Action {
 
 	function highlight($text, $terms) {
 		$pattern = '/('.implode('|',array_map('htmlspecialchars', $terms)).')/i';
-		$result = preg_replace($pattern, '<strong>\\1</strong>', $text);
+		$result = preg_replace($pattern, '<strong>\\1</strong>', htmlspecialchars($text));
 		return $result;
 	}
 }