diff --git a/lib/jsdoc/util/markdown.js b/lib/jsdoc/util/markdown.js
index 003ee2a4..4f2e198c 100644
--- a/lib/jsdoc/util/markdown.js
+++ b/lib/jsdoc/util/markdown.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/*global env: true */
+/*global env */
 
 /**
  * Provides access to Markdown-related functions.
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
  */
 'use strict';
 
+var util = require('util');
+
 /**
  * Enumeration of Markdown parsers that are available.
  * @enum {String}
@@ -64,6 +66,18 @@ function unescapeUrls(source) {
     return source.replace(/(https?)\:\\\/\\\//g, '$1://');
 }
 
+/**
+ * Escape characters in text within a code block.
+ *
+ * @param {string} source - The source text to escape.
+ * @return {string} The escaped source text.
+ */
+function escapeCode(source) {
+    return source.replace(/</g, '&lt;')
+        .replace(/"/g, '&quot;')
+        .replace(/'/g, '&#39;');
+}
+
 /**
  * Retrieve a function that accepts a single parameter containing Markdown source. The function uses
  * the specified parser to transform the Markdown source to HTML, then returns the HTML as a string.
@@ -86,14 +100,17 @@ function getParseFunction(parserName, conf) {
     if (parserName === parserNames.marked) {
         // Marked generates an "id" attribute for headers; this custom renderer suppresses it
         markedRenderer = new marked.Renderer();
-        markedRenderer.heading = function(text, level) {
-            var util = require('util');
 
+        markedRenderer.heading = function(text, level) {
             return util.format('<h%s>%s</h%s>', level, text, level);
         };
+
         // Allow prettyprint to work on inline code samples
         markedRenderer.code = function(code, language) {
-          return '<pre class="prettyprint source"><code>' + code + '</code></pre>';
+            var langClass = language ? ' lang-' + language : '';
+
+            return util.format( '<pre class="prettyprint source%s"><code>%s</code></pre>',
+                langClass, escapeCode(code) );
         };
 
         parserFunction = function(source) {
diff --git a/test/specs/jsdoc/util/markdown.js b/test/specs/jsdoc/util/markdown.js
index 488065fa..70062ed6 100644
--- a/test/specs/jsdoc/util/markdown.js
+++ b/test/specs/jsdoc/util/markdown.js
@@ -54,6 +54,18 @@ describe('jsdoc/util/markdown', function() {
             expect(parser._parser).toEqual('marked');
         });
 
+        it('should log an error if an unrecognized Markdown parser is requested', function() {
+            var logger = require('jsdoc/util/logger');
+            var parser;
+            var storage = setMarkdownConf({parser: 'not-a-real-markdown-parser'});
+
+            spyOn(logger, 'error');
+
+            parser = markdown.getParser();
+
+            expect(logger.error).toHaveBeenCalled();
+        });
+
         it('should not apply formatting to inline tags when the marked parser is enabled', function() {
             var storage = setMarkdownConf({parser: 'marked'});
             var parser = markdown.getParser();
@@ -72,16 +84,18 @@ describe('jsdoc/util/markdown', function() {
                 .toBe('<p>Visit {@link https://google.com}.</p>');
         });
 
-        it('should log an error if an unrecognized Markdown parser is requested', function() {
-            var logger = require('jsdoc/util/logger');
-            var parser;
-            var storage = setMarkdownConf({parser: 'not-a-real-markdown-parser'});
+        it('should escape characters in code blocks as needed', function() {
+            var parser = markdown.getParser();
+            var markdownText = '' +
+                '```html\n' +
+                '<p><a href="#">Sample \'HTML.\'</a></p>\n' +
+                '```';
+            var convertedText = '' +
+                '<pre class="prettyprint source lang-html"><code>' +
+                '&lt;p>&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot;>Sample \'HTML.\'&lt;/a>&lt;/p>' +
+                '</code></pre>';
 
-            spyOn(logger, 'error');
-
-            parser = markdown.getParser();
-
-            expect(logger.error).toHaveBeenCalled();
+            expect(parser(markdownText)).toBe(convertedText);
         });
     });
 });