diff --git a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
index 2cb999a..9cfc2b5 100644
--- a/config.def.h
+++ b/config.def.h
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 /* see example dunstrc for additional explanations about these options */
 
 char *font = "-*-terminus-medium-r-*-*-16-*-*-*-*-*-*-*";
+bool allow_markup = false;
 char *normbgcolor = "#1793D1";
 char *normfgcolor = "#DDDDDD";
 char *critbgcolor = "#ffaaaa";
diff --git a/dunstrc b/dunstrc
index 5b5279f..fee2a79 100644
--- a/dunstrc
+++ b/dunstrc
@@ -1,6 +1,16 @@
 [global]
     font = Monospace-10
 
+    # allow a small subset of html markup:
+    # <b>bold</b>
+    # <i>italic</i>
+    # <s>strikethrough<s/>
+    # <u>underline</u>
+    #
+    # for a complete reference see http://developer.gnome.org/pango/stable/PangoMarkupFormat.html
+    # If markup is not allowed, those tags will be stripped out of the message.
+    allow_markup = yes
+
     # The format of the message. Possible variables are:
     #   %a  appname
     #   %s  summary
@@ -8,6 +18,7 @@
     #   %i  iconname (including its path)
     #   %I  iconname (without its path)
     #   %p  progress value if set ([  0%] to [100%]) or nothing
+    # Markup is allowed
     format = "%s\n%b"
 
     # Sort messages by urgency
diff --git a/notification.c b/notification.c
index ec4befa..ec16aa6 100644
--- a/notification.c
+++ b/notification.c
@@ -251,7 +251,8 @@ int notification_init(notification * n, int id)
                 n->msg = string_replace("%p", "", n->msg);
         }
 
-        n->msg = notification_fix_markup(n->msg);
+        if (!settings.allow_markup)
+                n->msg = notification_fix_markup(n->msg);
 
         while (strstr(n->msg, "\\n") != NULL)
                 n->msg = string_replace("\\n", "\n", n->msg);
diff --git a/settings.c b/settings.c
index b2f2b88..281b3b9 100644
--- a/settings.c
+++ b/settings.c
@@ -59,6 +59,9 @@ void load_settings(char *cmdline_config_path)
         settings.font =
             option_get_string("global", "font", "-fn", font,
                               "The font dunst should use.");
+        settings.allow_markup =
+                option_get_bool("global", "allow_markup", "-markup", allow_markup,
+                                "Allow markups.");
         settings.format =
             option_get_string("global", "format", "-format", format,
                               "The format template for the notifictions");
diff --git a/settings.h b/settings.h
index 4b7d449..ec3554d 100644
--- a/settings.h
+++ b/settings.h
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 typedef struct _settings {
         bool print_notifications;
+        bool allow_markup;
         char *font;
         char *normbgcolor;
         char *normfgcolor;
diff --git a/x.c b/x.c
index d4e1017..480ef8c 100644
--- a/x.c
+++ b/x.c
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ typedef struct _colored_layout {
         PangoLayout *l;
         color_t fg;
         color_t bg;
+        char *text;
+        PangoAttrList *attr;
 } colored_layout;
 
 cairo_ctx_t cairo_ctx;
@@ -161,6 +163,7 @@ static void free_colored_layout(void *data)
 {
         colored_layout *cl = data;
         g_object_unref(cl->l);
+        g_free(cl->text);
 }
 
 colored_layout *r_create_layout_from_notification(cairo_t *c, notification *n)
@@ -180,7 +183,18 @@ colored_layout *r_create_layout_from_notification(cairo_t *c, notification *n)
         }
         r_setup_pango_layout(cl->l, width);
 
-        pango_layout_set_text(cl->l, n->text_to_render, -1);
+        /* markup */
+        bool success = pango_parse_markup(n->text_to_render, -1, 0, &(cl->attr), &(cl->text), NULL, NULL);
+
+        if (success) {
+                pango_layout_set_text(cl->l, cl->text, -1);
+                pango_layout_set_attributes(cl->l, cl->attr);
+        } else {
+                cl->text = NULL;
+                cl->attr = NULL;
+                pango_layout_set_text(cl->l, n->text_to_render, -1);
+                printf("Error parsing markup\n");
+        }
 
         pango_layout_get_pixel_size(cl->l, NULL, &(n->displayed_height));
         n->displayed_height += 2 * settings.padding;