diff --git a/script/import_scripts/phpbb3/importer.rb b/script/import_scripts/phpbb3/importer.rb
index 9f88a73b2b4..83d748fa6ed 100644
--- a/script/import_scripts/phpbb3/importer.rb
+++ b/script/import_scripts/phpbb3/importer.rb
@@ -172,8 +172,10 @@ module ImportScripts::PhpBB3
       # no need for this since the importer sets last_seen_at for each user during the import
     end
 
+    # Do not use the bbcode_to_md in base.rb. If enabled, it will be
+    # used in text_processor.rb instead.
     def use_bbcode_to_md?
-      @settings.use_bbcode_to_md
+      false
     end
 
     def batches
diff --git a/script/import_scripts/phpbb3/support/text_processor.rb b/script/import_scripts/phpbb3/support/text_processor.rb
index c0e99e4dd2a..edd104f6d33 100644
--- a/script/import_scripts/phpbb3/support/text_processor.rb
+++ b/script/import_scripts/phpbb3/support/text_processor.rb
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ module ImportScripts::PhpBB3
       @database = database
       @smiley_processor = smiley_processor
 
+      @settings = settings
       @new_site_prefix = settings.new_site_prefix
       create_internal_link_regexps(settings.original_site_prefix)
     end
@@ -18,6 +19,9 @@ module ImportScripts::PhpBB3
       text = CGI.unescapeHTML(text)
 
       clean_bbcodes(text)
+      if @settings.use_bbcode_to_md
+        text = bbcode_to_md(text)
+      end
       process_smilies(text)
       process_links(text)
       process_lists(text)
@@ -46,6 +50,15 @@ module ImportScripts::PhpBB3
       text.gsub!(/:(?:\w{8})\]/, ']')
     end
 
+    def bbcode_to_md(text)
+      begin
+        text.bbcode_to_md(false)
+      rescue e
+        puts "Problem converting \n#{text}\n using ruby-bbcode-to-md"
+        text
+      end
+    end
+
     def process_smilies(text)
       @smiley_processor.replace_smilies(text)
     end