diff --git a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
index 65e36d8..fe5b79f 100644
--- a/config.def.h
+++ b/config.def.h
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 char *font = "-*-terminus-medium-r-*-*-16-*-*-*-*-*-*-*";
 bool allow_markup = false;
+bool plain_text = true;
 char *normbgcolor = "#1793D1";
 char *normfgcolor = "#DDDDDD";
 char *critbgcolor = "#ffaaaa";
@@ -90,11 +91,11 @@ keyboard_shortcut context_ks = {.str = "none",
 rule_t default_rules[] = {
         /* name can be any unique string. It is used to identify the rule in dunstrc to override it there */
 
-        /*   name,    appname,        summary,         body,  icon, category, msg_urgency, timeout,  urgency,  fg,    bg,        format,  script */
-        {    "empty", NULL,           NULL,            NULL,  NULL, NULL, -1,          -1,       -1,       NULL,  NULL,      NULL,    NULL},
-        /* { "rule1", "notify-send",  NULL,            NULL,  NULL, NULL, -1,          -1,       -1,       NULL,  NULL,      "%s %b", NULL }, */
-        /* { "rule2", "Pidgin",       "*says*,         NULL,  NULL, NULL, -1,          -1,       CRITICAL, NULL,  NULL,      NULL,    NULL    }, */
-        /* { "rule3", "Pidgin",       "*signed on*",   NULL,  NULL, NULL, -1,          -1,       LOW,      NULL,  NULL,      NULL,    NULL    }, */
-        /* { "rule4", "Pidgin",       "*signed off*",  NULL,  NULL, NULL, -1,          -1,       LOW,      NULL,  NULL,      NULL,    NULL    }, */
-        /* { "rule5", NULL,           "*foobar*",      NULL,  NULL, NULL, -1,          -1,       -1,       NULL,  "#00FF00", NULL,    NULL }, */
+        /*   name,    appname,        summary,         body,  icon, category, msg_urgency, timeout,  urgency,  allow_markup, plain_text, new_icon, fg,   bg,        format,  script */
+        {    "empty", NULL,           NULL,            NULL,  NULL, NULL,     -1,          -1,       -1,       -1,           -1,         NULL,     NULL, NULL,      NULL,    NULL},
+        /* { "rule1", "notify-send",  NULL,            NULL,  NULL, NULL,     -1,          -1,       -1,       -1,           -1,         NULL,     NULL, NULL,      "%s %b", NULL }, */
+        /* { "rule2", "Pidgin",       "*says*,         NULL,  NULL, NULL,     -1,          -1,       CRITICAL, -1,           -1,         NULL,     NULL, NULL,      NULL,    NULL    }, */
+        /* { "rule3", "Pidgin",       "*signed on*",   NULL,  NULL, NULL,     -1,          -1,       LOW,      -1,           -1,         NULL,     NULL, NULL,      NULL,    NULL    }, */
+        /* { "rule4", "Pidgin",       "*signed off*",  NULL,  NULL, NULL,     -1,          -1,       LOW,      -1,           -1,         NULL,     NULL, NULL,      NULL,    NULL    }, */
+        /* { "rule5", NULL,           "*foobar*",      NULL,  NULL, NULL,     -1,          -1,       -1,       -1,           -1,         NULL,     NULL, "#00FF00", NULL,    NULL }, */
 };
diff --git a/dbus.c b/dbus.c
index 2080639..fd5b0d8 100644
--- a/dbus.c
+++ b/dbus.c
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include "dbus.h"
 #include "notification.h"
 #include "utils.h"
+#include "settings.h"
 
 GDBusConnection *dbus_conn;
 
@@ -283,6 +284,8 @@ static void onNotify(GDBusConnection * connection,
         n->body = body;
         n->icon = icon;
         n->timeout = timeout;
+        n->allow_markup = settings.allow_markup;
+        n->plain_text = settings.plain_text;
         n->progress = (progress < 0 || progress > 100) ? 0 : progress + 1;
         n->urgency = urgency;
         n->category = category;
diff --git a/dunst.c b/dunst.c
index 493803d..d8bf621 100644
--- a/dunst.c
+++ b/dunst.c
@@ -327,6 +327,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                 n->body = strdup("dunst is up and running");
                 n->progress = 0;
                 n->timeout = 10;
+                n->allow_markup = false;
+                n->plain_text = true;
                 n->urgency = LOW;
                 n->icon = NULL;
                 n->category = NULL;
diff --git a/dunstrc b/dunstrc
index e28b1c4..6eaeb1c 100644
--- a/dunstrc
+++ b/dunstrc
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [global]
     font = Monospace 8
 
-    # Allow a small subset of html markup:
+    # Allow a small subset of html markup in notifications and formats:
     #   <b>bold</b>
     #   <i>italic</i>
     #   <s>strikethrough</s>
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@
     # message.
     allow_markup = yes
 
+    # Treat incoming notifications as plain text
+    plain_text = no
+
     # The format of the message.  Possible variables are:
     #   %a  appname
     #   %s  summary
diff --git a/notification.c b/notification.c
index ecc8b6b..ede3622 100644
--- a/notification.c
+++ b/notification.c
@@ -161,8 +161,7 @@ void notification_free(notification * n)
         /*
          * Strip any markup from text
          */
-
-char *notification_fix_markup(char *str)
+char *notification_strip_markup(char *str)
 {
         char *replace_buf, *start, *end;
 
@@ -210,9 +209,62 @@ char *notification_fix_markup(char *str)
                 }
         }
         return str;
-
 }
 
+        /*
+         * Quote a text string for rendering with pango
+         */
+char *notification_quote_markup(char *str)
+{
+        if (str == NULL) {
+                return NULL;
+        }
+
+        str = string_replace_all("&", "&amp;", str);
+        str = string_replace_all("\"", "&quot;", str);
+        str = string_replace_all("'", "&apos;", str);
+        str = string_replace_all("<", "&lt;", str);
+        str = string_replace_all(">", "&gt;", str);
+
+        return str;
+}
+
+        /*
+         * Replace all occurrences of "needle" with a quoted "replacement",
+         * according to the allow_markup/plain_text settings.
+         */
+char *notification_replace_format(const char *needle, const char *replacement,
+                                  char *haystack, bool allow_markup,
+                                  bool plain_text) {
+        char* tmp;
+        char* ret;
+
+        if (plain_text) {
+                tmp = strdup(replacement);
+                tmp = string_replace_all("\\n", "\n", tmp);
+                if (settings.ignore_newline) {
+                        tmp = string_replace_all("\n", " ", tmp);
+                }
+                tmp = notification_quote_markup(tmp);
+                ret = string_replace_all(needle, tmp, haystack);
+                free(tmp);
+        } else if (!allow_markup) {
+                tmp = strdup(replacement);
+                if (!settings.ignore_newline) {
+                        tmp = string_replace_all("<br>", "\n", tmp);
+                        tmp = string_replace_all("<br/>", "\n", tmp);
+                        tmp = string_replace_all("<br />", "\n", tmp);
+                }
+                tmp = notification_strip_markup(tmp);
+                tmp = notification_quote_markup(tmp);
+                ret = string_replace_all(needle, tmp, haystack);
+                free(tmp);
+        } else {
+                ret = string_replace_all(needle, replacement, haystack);
+        }
+
+        return ret;
+}
 
 char *notification_extract_markup_urls(char **str_ptr) {
     char *start, *end, *replace_buf, *str, *urls = NULL, *url, *index_buf;
@@ -259,7 +311,6 @@ char *notification_extract_markup_urls(char **str_ptr) {
          */
 int notification_init(notification * n, int id)
 {
-
         if (n == NULL)
                 return -1;
 
@@ -282,35 +333,29 @@ int notification_init(notification * n, int id)
 
         n->urls = notification_extract_markup_urls(&(n->body));
 
-        n->msg = string_replace("%a", n->appname, g_strdup(n->format));
-        n->msg = string_replace("%s", n->summary, n->msg);
+        n->msg = string_replace_all("\\n", "\n", g_strdup(n->format));
+        n->msg = notification_replace_format("%a", n->appname, n->msg,
+                false, true);
+        n->msg = notification_replace_format("%s", n->summary, n->msg,
+                n->allow_markup, n->plain_text);
+        n->msg = notification_replace_format("%b", n->body, n->msg,
+                n->allow_markup, n->plain_text);
+
         if (n->icon) {
-                n->msg = string_replace("%I", basename(n->icon), n->msg);
-                n->msg = string_replace("%i", n->icon, n->msg);
+                n->msg = notification_replace_format("%I", basename(n->icon),
+                        n->msg, false, true);
+                n->msg = notification_replace_format("%i", n->icon,
+                        n->msg, false, true);
         }
-        n->msg = string_replace("%b", n->body, n->msg);
+
         if (n->progress) {
                 char pg[10];
                 sprintf(pg, "[%3d%%]", n->progress - 1);
-                n->msg = string_replace("%p", pg, n->msg);
+                n->msg = string_replace_all("%p", pg, n->msg);
         } else {
-                n->msg = string_replace("%p", "", n->msg);
+                n->msg = string_replace_all("%p", "", n->msg);
         }
 
-        if (!settings.allow_markup)
-                n->msg = notification_fix_markup(n->msg);
-        else if (!settings.ignore_newline) {
-                n->msg = string_replace("<br>", "\n", n->msg);
-                n->msg = string_replace("<br />", "\n", n->msg);
-        }
-
-        while (strstr(n->msg, "\\n") != NULL)
-                n->msg = string_replace("\\n", "\n", n->msg);
-
-        if (settings.ignore_newline)
-                while (strstr(n->msg, "\n") != NULL)
-                        n->msg = string_replace("\n", " ", n->msg);
-
         n->msg = g_strstrip(n->msg);
 
         if (id == 0) {
diff --git a/notification.h b/notification.h
index ba5d4a5..71422ea 100644
--- a/notification.h
+++ b/notification.h
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ typedef struct _notification {
         time_t timestamp;
         int timeout;
         int urgency;
+        bool allow_markup;
+        bool plain_text;
         bool redisplayed;       /* has been displayed before? */
         int id;
         int dup_count;
@@ -49,7 +51,8 @@ int notification_cmp_data(const void *a, const void *b, void *data);
 void notification_run_script(notification * n);
 int notification_close(notification * n, int reason);
 void notification_print(notification * n);
-char *notification_fix_markup(char *str);
+char *notification_strip_markup(char *str);
+char *notification_quote_markup(char *str);
 void notification_update_text_to_render(notification *n);
 int notification_get_ttl(notification *n);
 int notification_get_age(notification *n);
diff --git a/rules.c b/rules.c
index 6934601..8687f07 100644
--- a/rules.c
+++ b/rules.c
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ void rule_apply(rule_t * r, notification * n)
                 n->timeout = r->timeout;
         if (r->urgency != -1)
                 n->urgency = r->urgency;
+        if (r->allow_markup != -1)
+                n->allow_markup = r->allow_markup;
+        if (r->plain_text != -1)
+                n->plain_text = r->plain_text;
         if (r->new_icon)
                 n->icon = r->new_icon;
         if (r->fg)
@@ -54,6 +58,8 @@ void rule_init(rule_t * r)
         r->msg_urgency = -1;
         r->timeout = -1;
         r->urgency = -1;
+        r->allow_markup = -1;
+        r->plain_text = -1;
         r->new_icon = NULL;
         r->fg = NULL;
         r->bg = NULL;
@@ -65,7 +71,6 @@ void rule_init(rule_t * r)
  */
 bool rule_matches_notification(rule_t * r, notification * n)
 {
-
         return ((!r->appname || !fnmatch(r->appname, n->appname, 0))
                 && (!r->summary || !fnmatch(r->summary, n->summary, 0))
                 && (!r->body || !fnmatch(r->body, n->body, 0))
diff --git a/rules.h b/rules.h
index 71796c6..f7fc734 100644
--- a/rules.h
+++ b/rules.h
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ typedef struct _rule_t {
         /* actions */
         int timeout;
         int urgency;
+        int allow_markup;
+        int plain_text;
         char *new_icon;
         char *fg;
         char *bg;
diff --git a/settings.c b/settings.c
index e982fcf..531dd1f 100644
--- a/settings.c
+++ b/settings.c
@@ -85,7 +85,10 @@ void load_settings(char *cmdline_config_path)
                               "The font dunst should use.");
         settings.allow_markup =
                 option_get_bool("global", "allow_markup", "-markup", allow_markup,
-                                "Allow markups.");
+                                "Allow markups in notifications/formats.");
+        settings.plain_text =
+                option_get_bool("global", "plain_text", "-plain", plain_text,
+                                "Treat incoming notifications as plain text.");
         settings.format =
             option_get_string("global", "format", "-format", format,
                               "The format template for the notifictions");
@@ -352,6 +355,8 @@ void load_settings(char *cmdline_config_path)
                 r->body = ini_get_string(cur_section, "body", r->body);
                 r->icon = ini_get_string(cur_section, "icon", r->icon);
                 r->timeout = ini_get_int(cur_section, "timeout", r->timeout);
+                r->allow_markup = ini_get_bool(cur_section, "allow_markup", r->allow_markup);
+                r->plain_text = ini_get_bool(cur_section, "plain_text", r->plain_text);
                 r->urgency = ini_get_urgency(cur_section, "urgency", r->urgency);
                 r->msg_urgency = ini_get_urgency(cur_section, "msg_urgency", r->msg_urgency);
                 r->fg = ini_get_string(cur_section, "foreground", r->fg);
diff --git a/settings.h b/settings.h
index 26a049f..bebecb2 100644
--- a/settings.h
+++ b/settings.h
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 typedef struct _settings {
         bool print_notifications;
         bool allow_markup;
+        bool plain_text;
         bool stack_duplicates;
         char *font;
         char *normbgcolor;
diff --git a/utils.c b/utils.c
index 2f590ff..0ab4b3a 100644
--- a/utils.c
+++ b/utils.c
@@ -17,39 +17,56 @@ char *string_replace_char(char needle, char replacement, char *haystack) {
     return haystack;
 }
 
-char *string_replace_all(const char *needle, const char *replacement,
-                         char *haystack)
+char *string_replace_at(char *buf, int pos, int len, const char *repl)
 {
-        char *start;
-        start = strstr(haystack, needle);
-        while (start != NULL) {
-                haystack = string_replace(needle, replacement, haystack);
-                start = strstr(haystack, needle);
-        }
-        return haystack;
+        char *tmp;
+        int size, buf_len, repl_len;
+
+        buf_len = strlen(buf);
+        repl_len = strlen(repl);
+        size = (buf_len - len) + repl_len + 1;
+        tmp = malloc(size);
+
+        memcpy(tmp, buf, pos);
+        memcpy(tmp + pos, repl, repl_len);
+        memcpy(tmp + pos + repl_len, buf + pos + len, buf_len - (pos + len) + 1);
+
+        free(buf);
+        return tmp;
 }
 
-char *string_replace(const char *needle, const char *replacement,
-                     char *haystack)
+char *string_replace(const char *needle, const char *replacement, char *haystack)
 {
-        char *tmp, *start;
-        int size;
+        char *start;
         start = strstr(haystack, needle);
         if (start == NULL) {
                 return haystack;
         }
 
-        size = (strlen(haystack) - strlen(needle)) + strlen(replacement) + 1;
-        tmp = calloc(sizeof(char), size);
-        memset(tmp, '\0', size);
+        return string_replace_at(haystack, (start - haystack), strlen(needle), replacement);
+}
 
-        strncpy(tmp, haystack, start - haystack);
-        tmp[start - haystack] = '\0';
+char *string_replace_all(const char *needle, const char *replacement,
+    char *haystack)
+{
+        char *start;
+        int needle_pos;
+        int needle_len, repl_len;
 
-        sprintf(tmp + strlen(tmp), "%s%s", replacement, start + strlen(needle));
-        free(haystack);
+        needle_len = strlen(needle);
+        if (needle_len == 0) {
+                return haystack;
+        }
 
-        return tmp;
+        start = strstr(haystack, needle);
+        repl_len = strlen(replacement);
+
+        while (start != NULL) {
+                needle_pos = start - haystack;
+                haystack = string_replace_at(haystack, needle_pos, needle_len, replacement);
+                start = strstr(haystack + needle_pos + repl_len, needle);
+        }
+        return haystack;
 }
 
 char *string_append(char *a, const char *b, const char *sep)
diff --git a/x.c b/x.c
index 62ecde9..06301e5 100644
--- a/x.c
+++ b/x.c
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ static colored_layout *r_create_layout_from_notification(cairo_t *c, notificatio
                 pango_layout_set_attributes(cl->l, cl->attr);
         } else {
                 /* remove markup and display plain message instead */
-                n->text_to_render = notification_fix_markup(n->text_to_render);
+                n->text_to_render = notification_strip_markup(n->text_to_render);
                 cl->text = NULL;
                 cl->attr = NULL;
                 pango_layout_set_text(cl->l, n->text_to_render, -1);