diff --git a/pixelocr/formatting.py b/pixelocr/formatting.py
index b3388d6..8c4c36e 100644
--- a/pixelocr/formatting.py
+++ b/pixelocr/formatting.py
@@ -85,9 +85,10 @@ class HTMLFormat(OutputFormat):
         else:
             return None
 
-    def format_tag(self, tag, text):
-        from xml.sax.saxutils import escape
-        text = escape(text)
+    def format_tag(self, tag, text, escape=True):
+        from xml.sax import saxutils
+        if escape:
+            text = saxutils.escape(text)
         if tag:
             return '<{tag}>{text}</{tag}>'.format(tag=tag, text=text)
         else: