diff --git a/docs/file-formats/xml-data-file.md b/docs/file-formats/xml-data-file.md
index 75f1cce9e..cfba02093 100644
--- a/docs/file-formats/xml-data-file.md
+++ b/docs/file-formats/xml-data-file.md
@@ -730,35 +730,35 @@ and the third column is how DSP-APP displays the second column.
 
 Behavior of simple text (`SimpleText`/`Textarea` + `utf8`):
 
-| input to `excel2xml` | XML file | DSP-APP | Remarks                                      |
-| -------------------- | -------- | ------- | -------------------------------------------- |
-| `<`                  | `&lt;`   | &lt;    |                                              |
-| `>`                  | `&gt;`   | &gt;    |                                              |
-|                      | `<`      | ⛔      | invalid XML                                  |
-|                      | `>`      | &gt;    | discouraged by XML standard, but possible    |
-| `&`                  | `&amp;`  | &amp;   |                                              |
-|                      | `&`      | ⛔      | invalid XML                                  |
-| `&gt;`               | ⛔       |         | discouraged: The leading `&` will be escaped |
-| `<tag>`              | ⛔       |         | discouraged: Simple text is not rich text    |
-|                      | `<tag>`  | ⛔      | forbidden: Simple text is not rich text      |
+| input to `excel2xml` | XML file      | DSP-APP | Remarks                                      |
+| -------------------- | ------------- | ------- | -------------------------------------------- |
+| `<`                  | `&lt;`        | &lt;    |                                              |
+| `>`                  | `&gt;`        | &gt;    |                                              |
+|                      | `<`           | ⛔      | invalid XML                                  |
+|                      | `>`           | &gt;    | discouraged by XML standard, but possible    |
+| `&`                  | `&amp;`       | &amp;   |                                              |
+|                      | `&`           | ⛔      | invalid XML                                  |
+| `&gt;`               | ⛔            |         | discouraged: The leading `&` will be escaped |
+| `<tag>`              | `&lt;tag&gt;` | `<tag>` | discouraged: Simple text is not rich text    |
+|                      | `<tag>`       | ⛔      | forbidden: Simple text is not rich text      |
 
 
 Behavior of text with markup (`Richtext` + `xml`):
 
-| input to `excel2xml`  | XML file            | DSP-APP       | Remarks                                   |
-| --------------------- | ------------------- | ------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
-| `<`                   | ⛔                  |               | invalid XML                               |
-| `>`                   | `&gt;`              | &gt;          | discouraged by XML standard, but possible |
-|                       | `<`                 | ⛔            | invalid XML                               |
-|                       | `>`                 | &gt;          | discouraged by XML standard, but possible |
-| `&lt;`                | `&lt;`              | &lt;          |                                           |
-| `&gt;`                | `&gt;`              | &gt;          |                                           |
-| `&`                   | ⛔                  |               | invalid XML                               |
-|                       | `&`                 | ⛔            | invalid XML                               |
-| `&amp;`               | `&amp;`             | &             |                                           |
-| `<em>text</em>`       | `<em>text</em>`     | _text_        |                                           |
-| `unclosed <tag> text` | ⛔                  |               | invalid XML                               |
-|                       | `&lt;not a tag&gt;` | `<not a tag>` |                                           |
+| input to `excel2xml` | XML file               | DSP-APP          | Remarks                                   |
+| -------------------- | ---------------------- | ---------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
+| `<`                  | `&lt;`                 | `&lt;`           |                                           |
+| `>`                  | `&gt;`                 | &gt;             |                                           |
+|                      | `<`                    | ⛔               | invalid XML                               |
+|                      | `>`                    | &gt;             | discouraged by XML standard, but possible |
+| `&lt;`               | `&lt;`                 | &lt;             |                                           |
+| `&gt;`               | `&gt;`                 | &gt;             |                                           |
+| `&`                  | `&amp;`                | &                |                                           |
+|                      | `&`                    | ⛔               | invalid XML                               |
+| `&amp;`              | `&amp;`                | &                |                                           |
+| `<em>text</em>`      | `<em>text</em>`        | _text_           |                                           |
+| `unclosed <tag>`     | `unclosed &lt;tag&gt;` | `unclosed <tag>` |                                           |
+|                      | `&lt;not a tag&gt;`    | `<not a tag>`    |                                           |
 
 
 #### Special Characters: Rules
diff --git a/src/dsp_tools/commands/excel2xml/excel2xml_lib.py b/src/dsp_tools/commands/excel2xml/excel2xml_lib.py
index b4ed6257f..6f50a0d5a 100644
--- a/src/dsp_tools/commands/excel2xml/excel2xml_lib.py
+++ b/src/dsp_tools/commands/excel2xml/excel2xml_lib.py
@@ -1315,13 +1315,14 @@ def make_text_prop(
             # write the text into the tag, without validation
             value_.text = str(val.value)
         else:
+            escaped_text = _escape_reserved_chars(str(val.value))
             # enforce that the text is well-formed XML: serialize tag ...
-            content = etree.tostring(value_, encoding="unicode")
+            serialized = etree.tostring(value_, encoding="unicode")
             # ... insert text at the very end of the string, and add ending tag to the previously single <text/> tag ...
-            content = regex.sub(r"/>$", f">{val.value}</text>", content)
+            serialized = regex.sub(r"/>$", f">{escaped_text}</text>", serialized)
             # ... try to parse it again
             try:
-                value_ = etree.fromstring(content)
+                value_ = etree.fromstring(serialized)
             except etree.XMLSyntaxError:
                 raise BaseError(
                     "The XML tags contained in a richtext property (encoding=xml) must be well-formed. "
@@ -1333,6 +1334,55 @@ def make_text_prop(
     return prop_
 
 
+def _escape_reserved_chars(text: str) -> str:
+    """
+    From richtext strings (encoding="xml"), escape the reserved characters <, > and &,
+    but only if they are not part of a standard standoff tag or escape sequence.
+    The standard standoff tags allowed by DSP-API are documented here:
+    https://docs.dasch.swiss/2023.12.01/DSP-API/03-endpoints/api-v2/text/standard-standoff/
+
+    Args:
+        text: the richtext string to be escaped
+
+    Returns:
+        the escaped richtext string
+    """
+    allowed_tags = [
+        "a( [^>]+)?",  # <a> is the only tag that can have attributes
+        "p",
+        "em",
+        "strong",
+        "u",
+        "sub",
+        "sup",
+        "strike",
+        "h1",
+        "ol",
+        "ul",
+        "li",
+        "tbody",
+        "table",
+        "tr",
+        "td",
+        "br",
+        "hr",
+        "pre",
+        "cite",
+        "blockquote",
+        "code",
+    ]
+    allowed_tags_regex = "|".join(allowed_tags)
+    lookahead = rf"(?!/?({allowed_tags_regex})>)"
+    lookbehind = rf"(?<!</?({allowed_tags_regex}))"
+    illegal_lt = rf"<{lookahead}"
+    illegal_gt = rf"{lookbehind}>"
+    illegal_amp = r"&(?![#a-zA-Z0-9]+;)"
+    text = regex.sub(illegal_lt, "&lt;", text)
+    text = regex.sub(illegal_gt, "&gt;", text)
+    text = regex.sub(illegal_amp, "&amp;", text)
+    return text
+
+
 def make_time_prop(
     name: str,
     value: Union[PropertyElement, str, Iterable[Union[PropertyElement, str]]],
diff --git a/src/dsp_tools/commands/xmlupload/read_validate_xml_file.py b/src/dsp_tools/commands/xmlupload/read_validate_xml_file.py
index 2684977fa..d682dea32 100644
--- a/src/dsp_tools/commands/xmlupload/read_validate_xml_file.py
+++ b/src/dsp_tools/commands/xmlupload/read_validate_xml_file.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ def validate_and_parse_xml_file(
 def _check_if_link_targets_exist(root: etree._Element) -> None:
     """
     Make sure that all targets of links (resptr and salsah-links)
-    are either IRIsl or IDs that exist in the present XML file.
+    are either IRIs or IDs that exist in the present XML file.
 
     Args:
         root: parsed XML file
diff --git a/test/unittests/commands/excel2xml/test_excel2xml_lib.py b/test/unittests/commands/excel2xml/test_excel2xml_lib.py
index 46cb2154a..5c56630eb 100644
--- a/test/unittests/commands/excel2xml/test_excel2xml_lib.py
+++ b/test/unittests/commands/excel2xml/test_excel2xml_lib.py
@@ -490,7 +490,6 @@ def test_make_resptr_prop(self) -> None:
 
     @pytest.mark.filterwarnings("ignore::UserWarning")
     def test_make_text_prop(self) -> None:
-        # standard tests
         prop = "text"
         method = excel2xml.make_text_prop
         different_values = ["text_1", " ", "!", "?", "-", "_", "None"]
@@ -501,82 +500,80 @@ def test_make_text_prop(self) -> None:
             lambda: excel2xml.make_text_prop(":test", excel2xml.PropertyElement(value="a", encoding="unicode")),
         )
 
-        # encoding="utf8"
-        testcases_utf8 = [
-            [
-                "text < text/>",
-                "text &lt; text/&gt;",
-            ],
-            [
-                "text < text> & text",
-                "text &lt; text&gt; &amp; text",
-            ],
-            [
-                "text <text text > text",
-                "text &lt;text text &gt; text",
-            ],
-            [
-                'text < text text="text"> text',
-                'text &lt; text text="text"&gt; text',
-            ],
-            [
-                'text <text text="text" > text',
-                'text &lt;text text="text" &gt; text',
-            ],
-        ]
-        for orig, exp in testcases_utf8:
-            received = etree.tostring(
-                excel2xml.make_text_prop(":test", excel2xml.PropertyElement(orig, encoding="utf8")), encoding="unicode"
-            )
-            received = regex.sub(r" xmlns(:.+?)?=\".+?\"", "", received)
-            expected = (
-                '<text-prop name=":test"><text permissions="prop-default" encoding="utf8">'
-                + exp
-                + "</text></text-prop>"
-            )
-            self.assertEqual(received, expected)
-
-        # test encoding="xml"
-        testcases_xml = [
-            [
-                "text <strong>and</strong> text",
-                "text <strong>and</strong> text",
-            ],
-            [
-                'a <a class="salsah-link" href="IRI:test_thing_0:IRI">link</a> text',
-                'a <a class="salsah-link" href="IRI:test_thing_0:IRI">link</a> text',
-            ],
-            [
-                "1 &lt; 2",
-                "1 &lt; 2",
-            ],
-            [
-                "&lt;escaped tag&gt;",
-                "&lt;escaped tag&gt;",
-            ],
-        ]
-        all_inputs = " ".join([inp for inp, _ in testcases_xml])
-        all_outputs = " ".join([output for _, output in testcases_xml])
-        testcases_xml.append([all_inputs, all_outputs])
-
-        for orig, exp in testcases_xml:
-            received = etree.tostring(
-                excel2xml.make_text_prop(":test", excel2xml.PropertyElement(orig, encoding="xml")), encoding="unicode"
-            )
-            received = regex.sub(r" xmlns(:.+?)?=\".+?\"", "", received)
-            expected = (
-                '<text-prop name=":test"><text permissions="prop-default" encoding="xml">' + exp + "</text></text-prop>"
-            )
-            self.assertEqual(received, expected)
-
-        invalid_xml_texts = ["text < text", "text & text", "text <unclosed> tag", 'text <unclosed tag="tag"> text']
-        for inv in invalid_xml_texts:
-            with self.assertRaisesRegex(
-                BaseError,
-                r"The XML tags contained in a richtext property \(encoding=xml\) must be well-formed",
-                msg=f"Failed with '{inv}'",
-            ):
-                excel2xml.make_text_prop(":test", excel2xml.PropertyElement(inv, encoding="xml"))
+    def test_make_text_prop_utf8_lt_gt_amp(self) -> None:
+        original = "1 < 2 & 4 > 3"
+        expected = "1 &lt; 2 &amp; 4 &gt; 3"
+        returned = etree.tostring(excel2xml.make_text_prop(":test", original), encoding="unicode")
+        returned = regex.sub(r"</?text(-prop)?( [^>]+)?>", "", returned)
+        assert returned == expected
+
+    def test_make_text_prop_utf8_pseudo_tag(self) -> None:
+        original = "txt <txt>txt</txt> txt"
+        expected = "txt &lt;txt&gt;txt&lt;/txt&gt; txt"
+        returned = etree.tostring(excel2xml.make_text_prop(":test", original), encoding="unicode")
+        returned = regex.sub(r"</?text(-prop)?( [^>]+)?>", "", returned)
+        assert returned == expected
+
+    def test_make_text_prop_utf8_escape(self) -> None:
+        original = "txt &amp; txt"
+        expected = "txt &amp;amp; txt"
+        returned = etree.tostring(excel2xml.make_text_prop(":test", original), encoding="unicode")
+        returned = regex.sub(r"</?text(-prop)?( [^>]+)?>", "", returned)
+        assert returned == expected
+
+    def test_make_text_prop_xml_standard_standoff_tag(self) -> None:
+        original = "text <strong>and</strong> text"
+        expected = "text <strong>and</strong> text"
+        returned = etree.tostring(
+            excel2xml.make_text_prop(":test", excel2xml.PropertyElement(original, encoding="xml")), encoding="unicode"
+        )
+        returned = regex.sub(r"</?text(-prop)?( [^>]+)?>", "", returned)
+        assert returned == expected
+
+    def test_make_text_prop_xml_unsupported_tag(self) -> None:
+        original = "text <unsupported>tag</unsupported> text"
+        expected = "text &lt;unsupported&gt;tag&lt;/unsupported&gt; text"
+        returned = etree.tostring(
+            excel2xml.make_text_prop(":test", excel2xml.PropertyElement(original, encoding="xml")), encoding="unicode"
+        )
+        returned = regex.sub(r"</?text(-prop)?( [^>]+)?>", "", returned)
+        assert returned == expected
+
+    def test_make_text_prop_xml_salsah_link(self) -> None:
+        original = 'a <a class="salsah-link" href="IRI:test_thing_0:IRI">link</a> text'
+        expected = 'a <a class="salsah-link" href="IRI:test_thing_0:IRI">link</a> text'
+        returned = etree.tostring(
+            excel2xml.make_text_prop(":test", excel2xml.PropertyElement(original, encoding="xml")), encoding="unicode"
+        )
+        returned = regex.sub(r"</?text(-prop)?( [^>]+)?>", "", returned)
+        assert returned == expected
+
+    def test_make_text_prop_xml_escaped_tag(self) -> None:
+        original = "text <strong>and</strong> text"
+        expected = "text <strong>and</strong> text"
+        returned = etree.tostring(
+            excel2xml.make_text_prop(":test", excel2xml.PropertyElement(original, encoding="xml")), encoding="unicode"
+        )
+        returned = regex.sub(r"</?text(-prop)?( [^>]+)?>", "", returned)
+        assert returned == expected
+
+    def test_make_text_prop_xml_lt_gt_amp(self) -> None:
+        original = "1 < 2 & 4 > 3"
+        expected = "1 &lt; 2 &amp; 4 &gt; 3"
+        returned = etree.tostring(
+            excel2xml.make_text_prop(":test", excel2xml.PropertyElement(original, encoding="xml")), encoding="unicode"
+        )
+        returned = regex.sub(r"</?text(-prop)?( [^>]+)?>", "", returned)
+        assert returned == expected
+
+    def test_make_text_prop_xml_escape_sequence(self) -> None:
+        original = "text &amp; text"
+        expected = "text &amp; text"
+        returned = etree.tostring(
+            excel2xml.make_text_prop(":test", excel2xml.PropertyElement(original, encoding="xml")), encoding="unicode"
+        )
+        returned = regex.sub(r"</?text(-prop)?( [^>]+)?>", "", returned)
+        assert returned == expected
 
     def test_make_time_prop(self) -> None:
         prop = "time"