diff --git a/app/helpers/format_helper.rb b/app/helpers/format_helper.rb
index f4110755..67f53b2c 100644
--- a/app/helpers/format_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/format_helper.rb
@@ -195,10 +195,11 @@ module FormatHelper
       space_after_headers:          true,
       no_intra_emphasis:            true,
       fenced_code_blocks:           true,
-      disable_indented_code_blocks: true
+      disable_indented_code_blocks: true,
+      safe_links_only:              true
     }
     markdown = Redcarpet::Markdown.new(Redcarpet::Render::HTML.new(escape_html: escape_html), options)
-    markdown.render(text).html_safe
+    sanitize(markdown.render(text))
   end
 
   def markdown_hint(text='')
diff --git a/spec/helpers/format_helper_spec.rb b/spec/helpers/format_helper_spec.rb
index 11c241bc..dc364c2c 100644
--- a/spec/helpers/format_helper_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/helpers/format_helper_spec.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ describe FormatHelper, type: :helper do
 
     it 'should return HTML for header markdown' do
       expect(Redcarpet::Markdown).to receive(:new)
-      .with(Redcarpet::Render::HTML, autolink: true, space_after_headers: true, no_intra_emphasis: true, fenced_code_blocks: true, disable_indented_code_blocks: true)
+      .with(Redcarpet::Render::HTML, autolink: true, space_after_headers: true, no_intra_emphasis: true, fenced_code_blocks: true, disable_indented_code_blocks: true, safe_links_only: true)
       .and_call_original
 
       expect(markdown('# this is my header')).to eq "<h1>this is my header</h1>\n"