diff --git a/mustache.js b/mustache.js
index 28bed23..6259024 100644
--- a/mustache.js
+++ b/mustache.js
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ var Mustache = function () {
   };
 
   function escapeHTML(string) {
-    return String(string).replace(/&(?!\w+;)|[<>"']/g, function (s) {
+    return String(string).replace(/&(?!#?\w+;)|[<>"']/g, function (s) {
       return escapeMap[s] || s;
     });
   }