diff --git a/coffee/chosen.jquery.coffee b/coffee/chosen.jquery.coffee
index 004e0441d6d..83336af4716 100644
--- a/coffee/chosen.jquery.coffee
+++ b/coffee/chosen.jquery.coffee
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class Chosen extends AbstractChosen
     if @is_multiple
       @container.html '<ul class="chosen-choices"><li class="search-field"><input type="text" value="' + @default_text + '" class="default" autocomplete="off" style="width:25px;" /></li></ul><div class="chosen-drop"><ul class="chosen-results"></ul></div>'
     else
-      @container.html '<a class="chosen-single chosen-default"><span>' + @default_text + '</span><div><b></b></div></a><div class="chosen-drop"><div class="chosen-search"><input type="text" autocomplete="off" /></div><ul class="chosen-results"></ul></div>'
+      @container.html '<a class="chosen-single chosen-default"><span>' + this.escape_html(@default_text) + '</span><div><b></b></div></a><div class="chosen-drop"><div class="chosen-search"><input type="text" autocomplete="off" /></div><ul class="chosen-results"></ul></div>'
 
     @form_field_jq.hide().after @container
     @dropdown = @container.find('div.chosen-drop').first()
@@ -403,7 +403,10 @@ class Chosen extends AbstractChosen
     @selected_item.addClass("chosen-single-with-deselect")
 
   get_search_text: ->
-    $('<div/>').text($.trim(@search_field.val())).html()
+    this.escape_html $.trim(@search_field.val())
+
+  escape_html: (text) ->
+    $('<div/>').text(text).html()
 
   winnow_results_set_highlight: ->
     selected_results = if not @is_multiple then @search_results.find(".result-selected.active-result") else []
diff --git a/coffee/chosen.proto.coffee b/coffee/chosen.proto.coffee
index e5b1185d674..f15030e4465 100644
--- a/coffee/chosen.proto.coffee
+++ b/coffee/chosen.proto.coffee
@@ -393,7 +393,10 @@ class @Chosen extends AbstractChosen
     @selected_item.addClassName("chosen-single-with-deselect")
 
   get_search_text: ->
-    @search_field.value.strip().escapeHTML()
+    this.escape_html @search_field.value.strip()
+
+  escape_html: (text) ->
+    text.escapeHTML()
 
   winnow_results_set_highlight: ->
     if not @is_multiple
diff --git a/coffee/lib/abstract-chosen.coffee b/coffee/lib/abstract-chosen.coffee
index 6b1c3d51eb0..7b215e1c62e 100644
--- a/coffee/lib/abstract-chosen.coffee
+++ b/coffee/lib/abstract-chosen.coffee
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ class AbstractChosen
     else
       @default_text = @options.placeholder_text_single || @options.placeholder_text || AbstractChosen.default_single_text
 
+    @default_text = this.escape_html(@default_text)
+
     @results_none_found = @form_field.getAttribute("data-no_results_text") || @options.no_results_text || AbstractChosen.default_no_result_text
 
   choice_label: (item) ->