diff --git a/lib/creek/sheet.rb b/lib/creek/sheet.rb
index 7601401..1871206 100644
--- a/lib/creek/sheet.rb
+++ b/lib/creek/sheet.rb
@@ -116,7 +116,8 @@ def rows_generator include_meta_data=false, use_simple_rows_format=false
                 cell           = node.attributes['r']
               elsif (['v', 't'].include? node.name) and (node.node_type.eql? opener)
                 unless cell.nil?
-                  cells[(use_simple_rows_format ? cell.tr("0-9", "") : cell)] = convert(node.inner_xml, cell_type, cell_style_idx)
+                  node.read
+                  cells[(use_simple_rows_format ? cell.tr("0-9", "") : cell)] = convert(node.value, cell_type, cell_style_idx)
                 end
               end
             end
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/escaped.xlsx b/spec/fixtures/escaped.xlsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8ee772
Binary files /dev/null and b/spec/fixtures/escaped.xlsx differ
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/escaped2.xlsx b/spec/fixtures/escaped2.xlsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7a70942
Binary files /dev/null and b/spec/fixtures/escaped2.xlsx differ
diff --git a/spec/sheet_spec.rb b/spec/sheet_spec.rb
index 887109e..4d2ef14 100644
--- a/spec/sheet_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/sheet_spec.rb
@@ -12,6 +12,18 @@ def load_cell(rows, cell_name)
     cell[cell_name] if cell
   end
 
+  context 'escaped ampersand' do
+    let(:book_escaped) { Creek::Book.new('spec/fixtures/escaped.xlsx') }
+    it 'does NOT escape ampersand' do
+      expect(book_escaped.sheets[0].rows.to_enum.map(&:values)).to eq([["abc", "def"], ["ghi", "j&k"]])
+    end
+
+    let(:book_escaped2) { Creek::Book.new('spec/fixtures/escaped2.xlsx') }
+    it 'does escape ampersand' do
+      expect(book_escaped2.sheets[0].rows.to_enum.map(&:values)).to eq([["abc", "def"], ["ghi", "j&k"]])
+    end
+  end
+
   describe '#rows' do
     context 'with excel with images' do
       context 'with images preloading' do