diff --git a/src/Mod/TechDraw/App/DrawUtil.cpp b/src/Mod/TechDraw/App/DrawUtil.cpp
index 6c6512bd0ae8..cd1ff4feeba5 100644
--- a/src/Mod/TechDraw/App/DrawUtil.cpp
+++ b/src/Mod/TechDraw/App/DrawUtil.cpp
@@ -854,7 +854,37 @@ int DrawUtil::countSubShapes(TopoDS_Shape shape, TopAbs_ShapeEnum subShape)
     return count;
 }
 
-
+//https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5665231/most-efficient-way-to-escape-xml-html-in-c-string
+//for every character in inoutText, check if it is on the list of characters to be substituted and
+//replace it with the encoding string
+void DrawUtil::encodeXmlSpecialChars(std::string& inoutText)
+{
+    std::string buffer;
+    buffer.reserve(inoutText.size());
+    for(size_t cursor = 0; cursor != inoutText.size(); ++cursor) {
+        switch(inoutText.at(cursor)) {
+            case '&':
+                buffer.append("&");
+                break;
+            case '\"':
+                buffer.append(""");
+                break;
+            case '\'':
+                buffer.append("'");
+                break;
+            case '<':
+                buffer.append("&lt;");
+                break;
+            case '>':
+                buffer.append("&gt;");
+                break;
+            default:
+                buffer.append(&inoutText.at(cursor), 1);    //not a special character
+                break;
+        }
+    }
+    inoutText.swap(buffer);
+}
 
 // Supplementary mathematical functions
 // ====================================
diff --git a/src/Mod/TechDraw/App/DrawUtil.h b/src/Mod/TechDraw/App/DrawUtil.h
index 56fc89952884..f287f196fad1 100644
--- a/src/Mod/TechDraw/App/DrawUtil.h
+++ b/src/Mod/TechDraw/App/DrawUtil.h
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ class TechDrawExport DrawUtil {
         static Base::Vector3d getFaceCenter(TopoDS_Face f);
         static bool circulation(Base::Vector3d A, Base::Vector3d B, Base::Vector3d C);
         static int countSubShapes(TopoDS_Shape shape, TopAbs_ShapeEnum subShape);
+        static void encodeXmlSpecialChars(std::string& inoutText);
 
 
         // Supplementary mathematical functions
diff --git a/src/Mod/TechDraw/App/DrawViewSpreadsheet.cpp b/src/Mod/TechDraw/App/DrawViewSpreadsheet.cpp
index b2adf9344e1b..0dd20524482d 100644
--- a/src/Mod/TechDraw/App/DrawViewSpreadsheet.cpp
+++ b/src/Mod/TechDraw/App/DrawViewSpreadsheet.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 #include <Base/Parameter.h>
 
 #include "Preferences.h"
+#include "DrawUtil.h"
 #include "DrawViewSpreadsheet.h"
 
 #include <Mod/Spreadsheet/App/Cell.h>
@@ -287,9 +288,13 @@ std::string DrawViewSpreadsheet::getSheetImage()
                     prop->isDerivedFrom(App::PropertyFloat::getClassTypeId()) ||
                     prop->isDerivedFrom(App::PropertyInteger::getClassTypeId())
                 ) {
-                    field << cell->getFormattedQuantity();
+                    std::string temp = cell->getFormattedQuantity();    //writable
+                    DrawUtil::encodeXmlSpecialChars(temp);
+                    field << temp;
                 } else if (prop->isDerivedFrom(App::PropertyString::getClassTypeId())) {
-                    field << static_cast<App::PropertyString*>(prop)->getValue();
+                    std::string temp = static_cast<App::PropertyString*>(prop)->getValue();
+                    DrawUtil::encodeXmlSpecialChars(temp);
+                    field << temp;
                 } else {
                     Base::Console().Error("DVSS: Unknown property type\n");
                 }