diff --git a/ckan/lib/helpers.py b/ckan/lib/helpers.py
index fecc4d093aa..92c7a2aa2bd 100644
--- a/ckan/lib/helpers.py
+++ b/ckan/lib/helpers.py
@@ -559,10 +559,15 @@ def group_name_to_title(name):
 
 
 def markdown_extract(text, extract_length=190):
+    ''' return the plain text representation of markdown encoded text.  That
+    is the texted without any html tags.  If extract_length is 0 then it
+    will not be truncated.'''
     if (text is None) or (text.strip() == ''):
         return ''
     plain = re.sub(r'<.*?>', '', markdown(text))
-    return literal(unicode(truncate(plain, length=extract_length, indicator='...', whole_word=True)))
+    if not extract_length or len(plain) < extract_length:
+        return plain
+    return truncate(plain, length=extract_length, indicator='...', whole_word=True)
 
 
 def icon_url(name):