diff --git a/pmd-doc/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/EscapeUtils.java b/pmd-doc/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/EscapeUtils.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5166750757
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pmd-doc/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/EscapeUtils.java
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+/**
+ * BSD-style license; for more info see http://pmd.sourceforge.net/license.html
+ */
+
+package net.sourceforge.pmd.docs;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+public final class EscapeUtils {
+    private EscapeUtils() {
+        // This is a utility class
+    }
+
+    public static String escapeMarkdown(String unescaped) {
+        return unescaped.replace("\\", "\\\\")
+                .replace("*", "\\*")
+                .replace("_", "\\_")
+                .replace("~", "\\~")
+                .replace("[", "\\[")
+                .replace("]", "\\]")
+                .replace("|", "\\|");
+    }
+
+    private enum State {
+        S, LT, LT_H, LT_H_T, LT_H_T_T, LT_H_T_T_P, LT_H_T_T_P1, LT_H_T_T_P_S, LT_H_T_T_P_S1;
+    }
+
+    public static String escapeSingleLine(String line) {
+        StringBuilder escaped = new StringBuilder(line.length() + 16);
+        State s = State.S;
+        boolean needsEscape = true;
+        for (int i = 0; i < line.length(); i++) {
+            char c = line.charAt(i);
+            if (c == '`') {
+                needsEscape = !needsEscape;
+            }
+            switch (s) {
+            case S:
+                if (c == '<') {
+                    s = State.LT;
+                } else if (c == '>') {
+                    if (needsEscape && i > 0) {
+                        escaped.append("&gt;");
+                    } else {
+                        escaped.append(c);
+                    }
+                } else if (c == '"') {
+                    if (needsEscape) {
+                        escaped.append("&quot;");
+                    } else {
+                        escaped.append(c);
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    escaped.append(c);
+                }
+                break;
+            case LT:
+                if (c == 'h' || c == 'H') {
+                    s = State.LT_H;
+                } else {
+                    if (needsEscape) {
+                        escaped.append("&lt;").append(c);
+                    } else {
+                        escaped.append("<").append(c);
+                    }
+                    s = State.S;
+                }
+                break;
+            case LT_H:
+                if (c == 't' || c == 'T') {
+                    s = State.LT_H_T;
+                } else {
+                    escaped.append("&lt;h").append(c);
+                    s = State.S;
+                }
+                break;
+            case LT_H_T:
+                if (c == 't' || c == 'T') {
+                    s = State.LT_H_T_T;
+                } else {
+                    escaped.append("&lt;ht").append(c);
+                    s = State.S;
+                }
+                break;
+            case LT_H_T_T:
+                if (c == 'p' || c == 'P') {
+                    s = State.LT_H_T_T_P;
+                } else {
+                    escaped.append("&lt;htt").append(c);
+                    s = State.S;
+                }
+                break;
+            case LT_H_T_T_P:
+                if (c == 's' || c == 'S') {
+                    s = State.LT_H_T_T_P_S;
+                } else if (c == ':') {
+                    escaped.append("<http:");
+                    s = State.LT_H_T_T_P1;
+                } else {
+                    escaped.append("&lt;htt").append(c);
+                    s = State.S;
+                }
+                break;
+            case LT_H_T_T_P1:
+                escaped.append(c);
+                if (c == '>') {
+                    s = State.S;
+                }
+                break;
+            case LT_H_T_T_P_S:
+                if (c == ':') {
+                    escaped.append("<https:");
+                    s = State.LT_H_T_T_P_S1;
+                } else {
+                    escaped.append("&lt;https").append(c);
+                    s = State.S;
+                }
+                break;
+            case LT_H_T_T_P_S1:
+                escaped.append(c);
+                if (c == '>') {
+                    s = State.S;
+                }
+                break;
+            default:
+                escaped.append(c);
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        return escaped.toString();
+    }
+
+    public static List<String> escapeLines(List<String> lines) {
+        boolean needsEscape = true;
+        for (int i = 0; i < lines.size(); i++) {
+            String line = lines.get(i);
+            if (line.startsWith("```")) {
+                needsEscape = !needsEscape;
+            }
+            if (needsEscape && !line.startsWith("    ")) {
+                line = escapeSingleLine(line);
+            }
+            lines.set(i, line);
+        }
+        return lines;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/pmd-doc/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/RuleDocGenerator.java b/pmd-doc/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/RuleDocGenerator.java
index 19d22dbcad..16fe848df0 100644
--- a/pmd-doc/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/RuleDocGenerator.java
+++ b/pmd-doc/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/RuleDocGenerator.java
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ public class RuleDocGenerator {
                         lines.add("");
                     }
 
-                    lines.addAll(escapeLines(toLines(stripIndentation(rule.getDescription()))));
+                    lines.addAll(EscapeUtils.escapeLines(toLines(stripIndentation(rule.getDescription()))));
                     lines.add("");
 
                     if (rule instanceof XPathRule || rule instanceof RuleReference && ((RuleReference) rule).getRule() instanceof XPathRule) {
@@ -468,11 +468,11 @@ public class RuleDocGenerator {
                                         + multiValuePropertyDescriptor.multiValueDelimiter() + "'.";
                             }
 
-                            lines.add("|" + escapeMarkdown(StringEscapeUtils.escapeHtml4(propertyDescriptor.name()))
-                                    + "|" + escapeMarkdown(StringEscapeUtils.escapeHtml4(defaultValue)) + "|"
-                                    + escapeMarkdown((isDeprecated ? DEPRECATION_LABEL_SMALL : "")
+                            lines.add("|" + EscapeUtils.escapeMarkdown(StringEscapeUtils.escapeHtml4(propertyDescriptor.name()))
+                                    + "|" + EscapeUtils.escapeMarkdown(StringEscapeUtils.escapeHtml4(defaultValue)) + "|"
+                                    + EscapeUtils.escapeMarkdown((isDeprecated ? DEPRECATION_LABEL_SMALL : "")
                                             + StringEscapeUtils.escapeHtml4(description))
-                                    + "|" + escapeMarkdown(StringEscapeUtils.escapeHtml4(multiValued)) + "|");
+                                    + "|" + EscapeUtils.escapeMarkdown(StringEscapeUtils.escapeHtml4(multiValued)) + "|");
                         }
                         lines.add("");
                     }
@@ -615,127 +615,4 @@ public class RuleDocGenerator {
 
         return FilenameUtils.normalize(relativeSourceFilename, true);
     }
-
-    private static String escapeMarkdown(String unescaped) {
-        return unescaped.replace("\\", "\\\\").replace("*", "\\*").replace("_", "\\_").replace("~", "\\~")
-                .replace("[", "\\[").replace("]", "\\]").replace("|", "\\|");
-    }
-
-    private enum State {
-        S, LT, LT_H, LT_H_T, LT_H_T_T, LT_H_T_T_P, LT_H_T_T_P1, LT_H_T_T_P_S, LT_H_T_T_P_S1;
-    }
-
-    private static String escapeSingleLine(String line) {
-        StringBuilder escaped = new StringBuilder(line.length() + 16);
-        State s = State.S;
-        boolean needsEscape = true;
-        for (int i = 0; i < line.length(); i++) {
-            char c = line.charAt(i);
-            if (c == '`') {
-                needsEscape = !needsEscape;
-            }
-            switch (s) {
-            case S:
-                if (c == '<') {
-                    s = State.LT;
-                } else if (c == '>') {
-                    if (needsEscape) {
-                        escaped.append("&gt;");
-                    } else {
-                        escaped.append(c);
-                    }
-                } else {
-                    escaped.append(c);
-                }
-                break;
-            case LT:
-                if (c == 'h' || c == 'H') {
-                    s = State.LT_H;
-                } else {
-                    if (needsEscape) {
-                        escaped.append("&lt;").append(c);
-                    } else {
-                        escaped.append("<").append(c);
-                    }
-                    s = State.S;
-                }
-                break;
-            case LT_H:
-                if (c == 't' || c == 'T') {
-                    s = State.LT_H_T;
-                } else {
-                    escaped.append("&lt;h").append(c);
-                    s = State.S;
-                }
-                break;
-            case LT_H_T:
-                if (c == 't' || c == 'T') {
-                    s = State.LT_H_T_T;
-                } else {
-                    escaped.append("&lt;ht").append(c);
-                    s = State.S;
-                }
-                break;
-            case LT_H_T_T:
-                if (c == 'p' || c == 'P') {
-                    s = State.LT_H_T_T_P;
-                } else {
-                    escaped.append("&lt;htt").append(c);
-                    s = State.S;
-                }
-                break;
-            case LT_H_T_T_P:
-                if (c == 's' || c == 'S') {
-                    s = State.LT_H_T_T_P_S;
-                } else if (c == ':') {
-                    escaped.append("<http:");
-                    s = State.LT_H_T_T_P1;
-                } else {
-                    escaped.append("&lt;htt").append(c);
-                    s = State.S;
-                }
-                break;
-            case LT_H_T_T_P1:
-                escaped.append(c);
-                if (c == '>') {
-                    s = State.S;
-                }
-                break;
-            case LT_H_T_T_P_S:
-                if (c == ':') {
-                    escaped.append("<https:");
-                    s = State.LT_H_T_T_P_S1;
-                } else {
-                    escaped.append("&lt;https").append(c);
-                    s = State.S;
-                }
-                break;
-            case LT_H_T_T_P_S1:
-                escaped.append(c);
-                if (c == '>') {
-                    s = State.S;
-                }
-                break;
-            default:
-                escaped.append(c);
-                break;
-            }
-        }
-        return escaped.toString();
-    }
-
-    private static List<String> escapeLines(List<String> lines) {
-        boolean needsEscape = true;
-        for (int i = 0; i < lines.size(); i++) {
-            String line = lines.get(i);
-            if (line.startsWith("```")) {
-                needsEscape = !needsEscape;
-            }
-            if (needsEscape && !line.startsWith("    ") && !line.startsWith(">")) {
-                line = escapeSingleLine(line);
-            }
-            lines.set(i, line);
-        }
-        return lines;
-    }
 }
diff --git a/pmd-doc/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/EscapeUtilsTest.java b/pmd-doc/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/EscapeUtilsTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1010f375ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pmd-doc/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/EscapeUtilsTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/**
+ * BSD-style license; for more info see http://pmd.sourceforge.net/license.html
+ */
+
+package net.sourceforge.pmd.docs;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class EscapeUtilsTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testEscapeMarkdown() {
+        assertEquals("This is a \\\\backslash", EscapeUtils.escapeMarkdown("This is a \\backslash"));
+        assertEquals("This \"\\*\" is not a emphasis", EscapeUtils.escapeMarkdown("This \"*\" is not a emphasis"));
+        assertEquals("This \"\\*\\*\" is not a strong style", EscapeUtils.escapeMarkdown("This \"**\" is not a strong style"));
+        assertEquals("This \"\\[foo\\]\" does not start a link", EscapeUtils.escapeMarkdown("This \"[foo]\" does not start a link"));
+        assertEquals("This \"\\~bar\\~\" is not a strike-through", EscapeUtils.escapeMarkdown("This \"~bar~\" is not a strike-through"));
+        assertEquals("That's \"\\|\" just a bar", EscapeUtils.escapeMarkdown("That's \"|\" just a bar"));
+        assertEquals("This \"\\_\" is just a underscore", EscapeUtils.escapeMarkdown("This \"_\" is just a underscore"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testEscapeHtmlWithinMarkdownSingleLine() {
+        assertEquals("a &lt;script&gt; tag outside of `<script>` backticks should be escaped",
+                EscapeUtils.escapeSingleLine("a <script> tag outside of `<script>` backticks should be escaped"));
+        assertEquals("a &lt;script&gt; &quot;tag&quot; outside of `<script>` backticks should be escaped &lt;multiple&gt; times `<strong>`.",
+                EscapeUtils.escapeSingleLine("a <script> \"tag\" outside of `<script>` backticks should be escaped <multiple> times `<strong>`."));
+        assertEquals("URLS: a https://pmd.github.io or a <https://pmd.github.io> are turned into links",
+                EscapeUtils.escapeSingleLine("URLS: a https://pmd.github.io or a <https://pmd.github.io> are turned into links"));
+        assertEquals("multiple URLS: <https://pmd.github.io> and <https://pmd.github.io> are two links",
+                EscapeUtils.escapeSingleLine("multiple URLS: <https://pmd.github.io> and <https://pmd.github.io> are two links"));
+        assertEquals("URL: <http://www.google.com> is a url without ssl",
+                EscapeUtils.escapeSingleLine("URL: <http://www.google.com> is a url without ssl"));
+        assertEquals("> this is a quote line",
+                EscapeUtils.escapeSingleLine("> this is a quote line"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testEscapeHtmlWithinMarkdownBlocks() {
+        String text = "paragraph\n\n> quote <script>\n> quote line \"2\"\n> quote line `<script>` 3\n\n"
+                + "next paragraph\n\n    code <script> \"a < b\"\n    code line 2\n\n"
+                + "next paragraph\n\n```\ncode <script> \"a < b\"\ncode line 2\n```\n\n"
+                + "next paragraph\n\n```java\nString = \"code <script> with syntax highlighting\";\ncode line 2\n```\n";
+        String expected = "paragraph\n\n> quote &lt;script&gt;\n> quote line &quot;2&quot;\n> quote line `<script>` 3\n\n"
+                + "next paragraph\n\n    code <script> \"a < b\"\n    code line 2\n\n"
+                + "next paragraph\n\n```\ncode <script> \"a < b\"\ncode line 2\n```\n\n"
+                + "next paragraph\n\n```java\nString = \"code <script> with syntax highlighting\";\ncode line 2\n```\n";
+        List<String> escaped = EscapeUtils.escapeLines(Arrays.asList(text.split("\n")));
+        assertEquals(Arrays.asList(expected.split("\n")), escaped);
+    }
+}