diff --git a/js/extkeywidget.js b/js/extkeywidget.js
index f41e27a0a..632ac3f13 100644
--- a/js/extkeywidget.js
+++ b/js/extkeywidget.js
@@ -239,7 +239,8 @@ function ExtKeyWidget(id, sTargetClass, sFilter, sTitle, bSelectMode, oWizHelper
 		.autocomplete("instance")._renderItem = function (ul, item) {
 			$(ul).addClass('selectize-dropdown');
 			var term = this.term.replace("/([\^\$\(\)\[\]\{\}\*\.\+\?\|\\])/gi", "\\$1");
-			var val = item.label.replace(new RegExp("(?![^&;]+;)(?!<[^<>]*)("+term+")(?![^<>]*>)(?![^&;]+;)", "gi"), "<strong>$1</strong>");
+			var val = $('<div>').text(item.label).html();
+			val = val.replace(new RegExp("(?![^&;]+;)(?!<[^<>]*)("+term+")(?![^<>]*>)(?![^&;]+;)", "gi"), "<strong>$1</strong>");
 			if (item.obsolescence_flag == '1') {
 				val = ' <span class="object-ref-icon text_decoration"><span class="fas fa-eye-slash object-obsolete fa-1x fa-fw"></span></span>'+val;
 			}