diff --git a/fb2mobi.config b/fb2mobi.config
index 9ab90c2..e2a3b9c 100644
--- a/fb2mobi.config
+++ b/fb2mobi.config
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
   <outputFormat>mobi</outputFormat>
   <kindleCompressionLevel>1</kindleCompressionLevel>
 
-  <noDropcapsSymbols>'"-.…0123456789‒–—«»“”</noDropcapsSymbols>
+  <noDropcapsSymbols>'"-.…0123456789‒–—«»“”&lt;&gt;</noDropcapsSymbols>
   <transliterate>False</transliterate>
 
   <!-- Voyage, PW3, Aura -->
diff --git a/modules/fb2html.py b/modules/fb2html.py
index 84a99f6..10938a7 100644
--- a/modules/fb2html.py
+++ b/modules/fb2html.py
@@ -933,7 +933,7 @@ def parse_format(self, elem, tag=None, css=None, href=None):
                     if self.page_length + len(text) >= self.characters_per_page:
                         hs = self.insert_hyphenation(text)
                         if dodropcaps > 0:
-                            self.buff.append('<span class="dropcaps">{}</span>{}'.format(hs[0:dodropcaps], save_html(hs[dodropcaps:])))
+                            self.buff.append('<span class="dropcaps">{}</span>{}'.format(save_html(hs[0:dodropcaps]), save_html(hs[dodropcaps:])))
                             dodropcaps = 0
                         else:
                             self.buff.append(save_html(hs))
@@ -946,7 +946,7 @@ def parse_format(self, elem, tag=None, css=None, href=None):
                 if len(text) > 0:
                     hs = self.insert_hyphenation(text)
                     if dodropcaps > 0:
-                        self.buff.append('<span class="dropcaps">{}</span>{}'.format(hs[0:dodropcaps], save_html(hs[dodropcaps:])))
+                        self.buff.append('<span class="dropcaps">{}</span>{}'.format(save_html(hs[0:dodropcaps]), save_html(hs[dodropcaps:])))
                     else:
                         self.buff.append(save_html(hs))
                 self.pages_list[self.current_file] = page
@@ -954,7 +954,7 @@ def parse_format(self, elem, tag=None, css=None, href=None):
                 self.page_length += len(elem.text)
                 hs = self.insert_hyphenation(elem.text)
                 if dodropcaps > 0:
-                    self.buff.append('<span class="dropcaps">{}</span>{}'.format(hs[0:dodropcaps], save_html(hs[dodropcaps:])))
+                    self.buff.append('<span class="dropcaps">{}</span>{}'.format(save_html(hs[0:dodropcaps]), save_html(hs[dodropcaps:])))
                 else:
                     self.buff.append(save_html(hs))
 
diff --git a/version.py b/version.py
index 0a96b2d..4141392 100644
--- a/version.py
+++ b/version.py
@@ -4,5 +4,5 @@
 
 WINDOWS = platform.system().lower() == "windows"
 
-VERSION = u'3.6.38'
+VERSION = u'3.6.39'