diff --git a/sphinxext/opengraph/descriptionparser.py b/sphinxext/opengraph/descriptionparser.py
index f8eea29..8583b65 100644
--- a/sphinxext/opengraph/descriptionparser.py
+++ b/sphinxext/opengraph/descriptionparser.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import html
 import string
 from typing import Iterable
 
@@ -72,6 +73,9 @@ def dispatch_visit(self, node: nodes.Element) -> None:
         if len(node.children) == 0:
             text = node.astext().replace("\r", "").replace("\n", " ").strip()
 
+            # Ensure string contains HTML-safe characters
+            text = html.escape(text, True)
+
             # Remove double spaces
             while text.find("  ") != -1:
                 text = text.replace("  ", " ")
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-meta-name-description-escape/conf.py b/tests/roots/test-meta-name-description-escape/conf.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b31eaac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/roots/test-meta-name-description-escape/conf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+extensions = ["sphinxext.opengraph"]
+
+master_doc = "index"
+exclude_patterns = ["_build"]
+
+html_theme = "basic"
+
+ogp_site_url = "http://example.org/en/latest/"
+
+enable_meta_description = True
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-meta-name-description-escape/index.rst b/tests/roots/test-meta-name-description-escape/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5c6c1c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/roots/test-meta-name-description-escape/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Lorem <ipsum> dolor sit amet, "consectetur" adipiscing elit. Suspendisse at lorem ornare, fringilla massa nec, venenatis mi. Donec erat sapien, tincidunt nec rhoncus nec, scelerisque id diam. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient mauris.
diff --git a/tests/test_options.py b/tests/test_options.py
index 529d133..ff64ce9 100644
--- a/tests/test_options.py
+++ b/tests/test_options.py
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ def get_tag_content(tags, tag_type, kind="property", prefix="og"):
     return get_tag(tags, tag_type, kind, prefix).get("content", "")
 
 
+def get_tag_content_text(tags, tag_type, kind="property", prefix="og"):
+    # Gets the content of a specific ogp tag
+    return get_tag(tags, tag_type, kind, prefix).get_text("content", "")
+
+
 def get_meta_description(tags):
     return [tag for tag in tags if tag.get("name") == "description"][0].get(
         "content", ""
@@ -39,6 +44,15 @@ def test_meta_name_description(meta_tags):
     assert description == og_description
 
 
+@pytest.mark.sphinx("html", testroot="meta-name-description-escape")
+def test_meta_name_description(meta_tags):
+    og_description = get_tag_content(meta_tags, "description")
+    og_description_text = get_tag_content_text(meta_tags, "description")
+
+    assert '<' in og_description
+    assert '<' not in og_description_text
+
+
 @pytest.mark.sphinx("html", testroot="meta-name-description-manual-description")
 def test_meta_name_manual_description(meta_tags):
     og_description = get_tag_content(meta_tags, "description")