diff --git a/document.c b/document.c
index 3a86b54..46d3d01 100644
--- a/document.c
+++ b/document.c
@@ -158,26 +158,29 @@ parse_listitem(struct lowdown_buf *, struct lowdown_doc *,
 	char *, size_t, enum hlist_fl *, size_t);
 
 /*
- * Add a node to the parse stack, or retrieve a current node if
- * requesting multiple LOWDOWN_NORMAL_TEXTs in sequence.  Returns the
- * node, initialised to the given type, after adjusting the parse
+ * Add a node to the parse stack or retrieve a current node if
+ * requesting multiple similar LOWDOWN_NORMAL_TEXT in sequence.  Returns
+ * the node, initialised to the given type, after adjusting the parse
  * position.  Returns NULL on memory allocation failure.
  */
 static struct lowdown_node *
-pushnode(struct lowdown_doc *doc, enum lowdown_rndrt t)
+pushnode_full(struct lowdown_doc *doc, enum lowdown_rndrt t, int fl)
 {
 	struct lowdown_node	*n;
 
 	/*
 	 * Special case: if we're pushing a NORMAL_TEXT node, see if one
-	 * already exists and return that.  This means that each push
-	 * for text nodes should be careful to use hbuf_push() instead
-	 * of hbuf_create() when adding text content.
+	 * already exists with the same flags and return that.  This
+	 * means that each push for text nodes should be careful to use
+	 * hbuf_push() instead of hbuf_create() when adding text
+	 * content.
 	 */
 
 	if (t == LOWDOWN_NORMAL_TEXT && doc->current != NULL) {
 		n = TAILQ_LAST(&doc->current->children, lowdown_nodeq);
-		if (n != NULL && n->type == t) {
+		if (n != NULL &&
+		    n->type == LOWDOWN_NORMAL_TEXT &&
+		    n->rndr_normal_text.flags == fl) {
 			doc->depth++;
 			doc->current = n;
 			return n;
@@ -201,6 +204,26 @@ pushnode(struct lowdown_doc *doc, enum lowdown_rndrt t)
 	return n;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Push a new node or, if LOWDOWN_NORMAL_TEXT, retrieve the existing one
+ * if the flags exactly match.
+ */
+static struct lowdown_node *
+pushnode(struct lowdown_doc *doc, enum lowdown_rndrt t)
+{
+	return pushnode_full(doc, t, 0);
+}
+
+/*
+ * Push a new LOWDOWN_NORMAL_TEXT or retrieve the existing one if the
+ * flags exactly match.
+ */
+static struct lowdown_node *
+pushtext(struct lowdown_doc *doc, int flags)
+{
+	return pushnode_full(doc, LOWDOWN_NORMAL_TEXT, flags);
+}
+
 /*
  * Sets a buffer with the contents of "data" of size "datasz".  The
  * buffer must be empty.  Return FALSE on failure, TRUE on success.
@@ -1047,7 +1070,10 @@ char_codespan(struct lowdown_doc *doc,
 }
 
 /*
- * '\\' backslash escape
+ * '\\' backslash escaped text.
+ * Escaped text isn't handled by smart typography, although it must be
+ * escaped for output.  Mark it as HTEXT_ESCAPED to make sure that we
+ * don't use smart typography on the node.
  */
 static ssize_t
 char_escape(struct lowdown_doc *doc,
@@ -1091,14 +1117,16 @@ char_escape(struct lowdown_doc *doc,
 
 		if (strchr(escape_chars, data[1]) == NULL)
 			return 0;
-		if ((n = pushnode(doc, LOWDOWN_NORMAL_TEXT)) == NULL)
+		if ((n = pushtext(doc, HTEXT_ESCAPED)) == NULL)
 			return -1;
+		n->rndr_normal_text.flags = HTEXT_ESCAPED;
 		if (!hbuf_push(&n->rndr_normal_text.text, data + 1, 1))
 			return -1;
 		popnode(doc, n);
 	} else if (size == 1) {
-		if ((n = pushnode(doc, LOWDOWN_NORMAL_TEXT)) == NULL)
+		if ((n = pushtext(doc, HTEXT_ESCAPED)) == NULL)
 			return -1;
+		n->rndr_normal_text.flags = HTEXT_ESCAPED;
 		if (!hbuf_push(&n->rndr_normal_text.text, data, 1))
 			return -1;
 		popnode(doc, n);
diff --git a/lowdown.h b/lowdown.h
index e03e15f..b127b90 100644
--- a/lowdown.h
+++ b/lowdown.h
@@ -155,6 +155,8 @@ struct	rndr_paragraph {
 };
 
 struct	rndr_normal_text {
+	int		   flags;
+#define	HTEXT_ESCAPED	   0x01
 	struct lowdown_buf text;
 };
 
diff --git a/man/lowdown.3 b/man/lowdown.3
index 5f397af..112d847 100644
--- a/man/lowdown.3
+++ b/man/lowdown.3
@@ -878,6 +878,12 @@ The basic
 .Va text
 content for
 .Dv LOWDOWN_NORMAL_TEXT .
+If
+.Va flags
+is set to
+.Dv HTEXT_ESCAPED ,
+the text may be escaped for output, but may not be altered by any smart
+typography or similar (it should be passed as-is).
 .It Va rndr_paragraph
 For
 .Dv LOWDOWN_PARAGRAPH ,
diff --git a/regress/smarty-no-escape.html b/regress/smarty-no-escape.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..989a328
--- /dev/null
+++ b/regress/smarty-no-escape.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<p>Hi "there".</p>
diff --git a/regress/smarty-no-escape.md b/regress/smarty-no-escape.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6054b68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/regress/smarty-no-escape.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+
+Hi \"there\".
diff --git a/regress/smarty-no-escape2.html b/regress/smarty-no-escape2.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..299e257
--- /dev/null
+++ b/regress/smarty-no-escape2.html
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+<ul>
+<li><strong>&#8211;foo-bar</strong></li>
+<li><strong>--foo-bar</strong></li>
+</ul>
diff --git a/regress/smarty-no-escape2.md b/regress/smarty-no-escape2.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4eb3d04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/regress/smarty-no-escape2.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+Blah:
+
+ - **--foo-bar**
+ - **\-\-foo-bar**
diff --git a/regress/smarty-no-escape3.html b/regress/smarty-no-escape3.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e6c808b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/regress/smarty-no-escape3.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<p>Should be esaped: &#60;hi &#47;&#62;. &#60;hi&#62;.</p>
diff --git a/regress/smarty-no-escape3.md b/regress/smarty-no-escape3.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a430e6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/regress/smarty-no-escape3.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+
+Should be esaped: \<hi /\>. \<hi\>.
diff --git a/regress/smarty-no-escape4.html b/regress/smarty-no-escape4.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f5cec15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/regress/smarty-no-escape4.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<p>a&#8211;--b</p>
diff --git a/regress/smarty-no-escape4.md b/regress/smarty-no-escape4.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b207097
--- /dev/null
+++ b/regress/smarty-no-escape4.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+
+a--\-\-b
diff --git a/smartypants.c b/smartypants.c
index 94386fa..3db2eaf 100644
--- a/smartypants.c
+++ b/smartypants.c
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ smarty_right_wb(const struct lowdown_node *n, size_t pos)
  * of the parse tree, <0 on failure, otherwise return zero.
  */
 static int
-smarty_hbuf(struct lowdown_node *n, size_t *maxn,
+smarty_text(struct lowdown_node *n, size_t *maxn,
 	struct lowdown_buf *b, struct smarty *s)
 {
 	size_t	 i = 0, j, sz;
@@ -329,6 +329,11 @@ smarty_hbuf(struct lowdown_node *n, size_t *maxn,
 
 	assert(n->type == LOWDOWN_NORMAL_TEXT);
 
+	/* If the text node was escaped, pass it out unchanged. */
+
+	if (n->rndr_normal_text.flags & HTEXT_ESCAPED)
+		return 0;
+
 	for (i = 0; i < b->size; i++) {
 		switch (b->data[i]) {
 		case '.':
@@ -421,7 +426,7 @@ smarty_span(struct lowdown_node *root, size_t *maxn,
 	TAILQ_FOREACH(n, &root->children, entries)
 		switch (types[n->type]) {
 		case TYPE_TEXT:
-			c = smarty_hbuf(n, maxn, 
+			c = smarty_text(n, maxn,
 				&n->rndr_normal_text.text, s);
 			if (c < 0)
 				return 0;
@@ -464,7 +469,7 @@ smarty_block(struct lowdown_node *root,
 				return 0;
 			break;
 		case TYPE_TEXT:
-			c = smarty_hbuf(n, maxn, 
+			c = smarty_text(n, maxn,
 				&n->rndr_normal_text.text, &s);
 			if (c < 0)
 				return 0;