diff --git a/lib/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js b/lib/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js
index 793331ba..4cd03711 100644
--- a/lib/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js
+++ b/lib/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js
@@ -233,6 +233,10 @@ function getId(longname, id) {
 var getUniqueId = exports.getUniqueId = makeUniqueId;
 
 var htmlsafe = exports.htmlsafe = function(str) {
+    if (typeof str !== 'string') {
+        str = String(str);
+    }
+
     return str.replace(/&/g, '&')
         .replace(/</g, '&lt;');
 };
diff --git a/test/specs/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js b/test/specs/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js
index 1220c162..ac1a331c 100644
--- a/test/specs/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js
+++ b/test/specs/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js
@@ -473,6 +473,15 @@ describe("jsdoc/util/templateHelper", function() {
             var input = '<h1>Foo & Friends</h1>';
             expect( helper.htmlsafe(input) ).toBe('&lt;h1>Foo &amp; Friends&lt;/h1>');
         });
+
+        it('should convert non-strings to strings', function() {
+            function htmlsafe() {
+                return helper.htmlsafe(false);
+            }
+
+            expect(htmlsafe).not.toThrow();
+            expect(htmlsafe()).toBe('false');
+        });
     });
 
     describe("find", function() {