diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/dialects/bold_italics_dialect.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/dialects/bold_italics_dialect.js
index 74baa98ff86..cddc1b8c785 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/dialects/bold_italics_dialect.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/dialects/bold_italics_dialect.js
@@ -8,6 +8,31 @@
 // From PageDown
 var aLetter = /[a-zA-Z0-9\u00aa\u00b5\u00ba\u00c0-\u00d6\u00d8-\u00f6\u00f8-\u02c1\u02c6-\u02d1\u02e0-\u02e4\u02ec\u02ee\u0370-\u0374\u0376-\u0377\u037a-\u037d\u0386\u0388-\u038a\u038c\u038e-\u03a1\u03a3-\u03f5\u03f7-\u0481\u048a-\u0523\u0531-\u0556\u0559\u0561-\u0587\u05d0-\u05ea\u05f0-\u05f2\u0621-\u064a\u0660-\u0669\u066e-\u066f\u0671-\u06d3\u06d5\u06e5-\u06e6\u06ee-\u06fc\u06ff\u0710\u0712-\u072f\u074d-\u07a5\u07b1\u07c0-\u07ea\u07f4-\u07f5\u07fa\u0904-\u0939\u093d\u0950\u0958-\u0961\u0966-\u096f\u0971-\u0972\u097b-\u097f\u0985-\u098c\u098f-\u0990\u0993-\u09a8\u09aa-\u09b0\u09b2\u09b6-\u09b9\u09bd\u09ce\u09dc-\u09dd\u09df-\u09e1\u09e6-\u09f1\u0a05-\u0a0a\u0a0f-\u0a10\u0a13-\u0a28\u0a2a-\u0a30\u0a32-\u0a33\u0a35-\u0a36\u0a38-\u0a39\u0a59-\u0a5c\u0a5e\u0a66-\u0a6f\u0a72-\u0a74\u0a85-\u0a8d\u0a8f-\u0a91\u0a93-\u0aa8\u0aaa-\u0ab0\u0ab2-\u0ab3\u0ab5-\u0ab9\u0abd\u0ad0\u0ae0-\u0ae1\u0ae6-\u0aef\u0b05-\u0b0c\u0b0f-\u0b10\u0b13-\u0b28\u0b2a-\u0b30\u0b32-\u0b33\u0b35-\u0b39\u0b3d\u0b5c-\u0b5d\u0b5f-\u0b61\u0b66-\u0b6f\u0b71\u0b83\u0b85-\u0b8a\u0b8e-\u0b90\u0b92-\u0b95\u0b99-\u0b9a\u0b9c\u0b9e-\u0b9f\u0ba3-\u0ba4\u0ba8-\u0baa\u0bae-\u0bb9\u0bd0\u0be6-\u0bef\u0c05-\u0c0c\u0c0e-\u0c10\u0c12-\u0c28\u0c2a-\u0c33\u0c35-\u0c39\u0c3d\u0c58-\u0c59\u0c60-\u0c61\u0c66-\u0c6f\u0c85-\u0c8c\u0c8e-\u0c90\u0c92-\u0ca8\u0caa-\u0cb3\u0cb5-\u0cb9\u0cbd\u0cde\u0ce0-\u0ce1\u0ce6-\u0cef\u0d05-\u0d0c\u0d0e-\u0d10\u0d12-\u0d28\u0d2a-\u0d39\u0d3d\u0d60-\u0d61\u0d66-\u0d6f\u0d7a-\u0d7f\u0d85-\u0d96\u0d9a-\u0db1\u0db3-\u0dbb\u0dbd\u0dc0-\u0dc6\u0e01-\u0e30\u0e32-\u0e33\u0e40-\u0e46\u0e50-\u0e59\u0e81-\u0e82\u0e84\u0e87-\u0e88\u0e8a\u0e8d\u0e94-\u0e97\u0e99-\u0e9f\u0ea1-\u0ea3\u0ea5\u0ea7\u0eaa-\u0eab\u0ead-\u0eb0\u0eb2-\u0eb3\u0ebd\u0ec0-\u0ec4\u0ec6\u0ed0-\u0ed9\u0edc-\u0edd\u0f00\u0f20-\u0f29\u0f40-\u0f47\u0f49-\u0f6c\u0f88-\u0f8b\u1000-\u102a\u103f-\u1049\u1050-\u1055\u105a-\u105d\u1061\u1065-\u1066\u106e-\u1070\u1075-\u1081\u108e\u1090-\u1099\u10a0-\u10c5\u10d0-\u10fa\u10fc\u1100-\u1159\u115f-\u11a2\u11a8-\u11f9\u1200-\u1248\u124a-\u124d\u1250-\u1256\u1258\u125a-\u125d\u1260-\u1288\u128a-\u128d\u1290-\u12b0\u12b2-\u12b5\u12b8-\u12be\u12c0\u12c2-\u12c5\u12c8-\u12d6\u12d8-\u1310\u1312-\u1315\u1318-\u135a\u1380-\u138f\u13a0-\u13f4\u1401-\u166c\u166f-\u1676\u1681-\u169a\u16a0-\u16ea\u1700-\u170c\u170e-\u1711\u1720-\u1731\u1740-\u1751\u1760-\u176c\u176e-\u1770\u1780-\u17b3\u17d7\u17dc\u17e0-\u17e9\u1810-\u1819\u1820-\u1877\u1880-\u18a8\u18aa\u1900-\u191c\u1946-\u196d\u1970-\u1974\u1980-\u19a9\u19c1-\u19c7\u19d0-\u19d9\u1a00-\u1a16\u1b05-\u1b33\u1b45-\u1b4b\u1b50-\u1b59\u1b83-\u1ba0\u1bae-\u1bb9\u1c00-\u1c23\u1c40-\u1c49\u1c4d-\u1c7d\u1d00-\u1dbf\u1e00-\u1f15\u1f18-\u1f1d\u1f20-\u1f45\u1f48-\u1f4d\u1f50-\u1f57\u1f59\u1f5b\u1f5d\u1f5f-\u1f7d\u1f80-\u1fb4\u1fb6-\u1fbc\u1fbe\u1fc2-\u1fc4\u1fc6-\u1fcc\u1fd0-\u1fd3\u1fd6-\u1fdb\u1fe0-\u1fec\u1ff2-\u1ff4\u1ff6-\u1ffc\u203f-\u2040\u2054\u2071\u207f\u2090-\u2094\u2102\u2107\u210a-\u2113\u2115\u2119-\u211d\u2124\u2126\u2128\u212a-\u212d\u212f-\u2139\u213c-\u213f\u2145-\u2149\u214e\u2183-\u2184\u2c00-\u2c2e\u2c30-\u2c5e\u2c60-\u2c6f\u2c71-\u2c7d\u2c80-\u2ce4\u2d00-\u2d25\u2d30-\u2d65\u2d6f\u2d80-\u2d96\u2da0-\u2da6\u2da8-\u2dae\u2db0-\u2db6\u2db8-\u2dbe\u2dc0-\u2dc6\u2dc8-\u2dce\u2dd0-\u2dd6\u2dd8-\u2dde\u2e2f\u3005-\u3006\u3031-\u3035\u303b-\u303c\u3041-\u3096\u309d-\u309f\u30a1-\u30fa\u30fc-\u30ff\u3105-\u312d\u3131-\u318e\u31a0-\u31b7\u31f0-\u31ff\u3400-\u4db5\u4e00-\u9fc3\ua000-\ua48c\ua500-\ua60c\ua610-\ua62b\ua640-\ua65f\ua662-\ua66e\ua67f-\ua697\ua717-\ua71f\ua722-\ua788\ua78b-\ua78c\ua7fb-\ua801\ua803-\ua805\ua807-\ua80a\ua80c-\ua822\ua840-\ua873\ua882-\ua8b3\ua8d0-\ua8d9\ua900-\ua925\ua930-\ua946\uaa00-\uaa28\uaa40-\uaa42\uaa44-\uaa4b\uaa50-\uaa59\uac00-\ud7a3\uf900-\ufa2d\ufa30-\ufa6a\ufa70-\ufad9\ufb00-\ufb06\ufb13-\ufb17\ufb1d\ufb1f-\ufb28\ufb2a-\ufb36\ufb38-\ufb3c\ufb3e\ufb40-\ufb41\ufb43-\ufb44\ufb46-\ufbb1\ufbd3-\ufd3d\ufd50-\ufd8f\ufd92-\ufdc7\ufdf0-\ufdfb\ufe33-\ufe34\ufe4d-\ufe4f\ufe70-\ufe74\ufe76-\ufefc\uff10-\uff19\uff21-\uff3a\uff3f\uff41-\uff5a\uff66-\uffbe\uffc2-\uffc7\uffca-\uffcf\uffd2-\uffd7\uffda-\uffdc]/;
 
+
+var unhoist = function(obj,from,to){
+  var unhoisted = 0;
+  var regex = new RegExp(from, "g");
+
+  if(_.isArray(obj)){
+    for(var i=0; i<obj.length; i++){
+      var item = obj[i];
+
+      if(_.isString(item)){
+        // Odd, but we need +1 for the / in front of /*
+        var matches = item.match(regex);
+        unhoisted -= matches ? matches.length : 0;
+
+        obj[i] = item.replace(regex, to);
+        unhoisted += item.length - obj[i].length;
+      }
+      if(_.isArray(item)){
+        unhoisted += unhoist(item, from, to);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return unhoisted;
+};
+
 var replaceMarkdown = function(match, tag) {
   var hash = md5(match[0]);
 
@@ -26,20 +51,21 @@ var replaceMarkdown = function(match, tag) {
       return;
     }
 
-    var endText = new RegExp("[^\\s|" + match[0] + "]" + match.replace(/\*/g,"\\*") + "([^" + match[0] + "]|$)");
+    // hoist out escaped \*
     text = text.replace(new RegExp("\\\\\\" + match[0], "g"), hash);
+
+    var endText = new RegExp("[^\\s|" + match[0] + "]" + match.replace(/\*/g,"\\*") + "([^" + match[0] + "]|$)");
+
     var finish = text.split("\n")[0].search(endText);
     if(finish && finish >= 0) {
       var newText = text.substring(match.length, finish+1);
       newText = this.processInline(newText);
+
+      var unhoisted_length = unhoist(newText,hash,match[0]);
+
       var array = typeof tag === "string" ? [tag].concat(newText) : [tag[0], [tag[1]].concat(newText)];
-      if (array && array.length > 1) {
-        var last = (array.length - 1);
-        if (typeof array[last] === "string") {
-          array[last] = array[last].replace(new RegExp(hash, "g"), match[0]);
-        }
-      }
-      return [finish + match.length + 1, array];
+
+      return [(finish + match.length + 1) - unhoisted_length, array];
     }
   });
 };
diff --git a/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb b/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb
index fe39d84b9a7..42e4bfad41e 100644
--- a/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb
@@ -298,4 +298,9 @@ describe PrettyText do
   end
 
 
+  it 'can escape *' do
+    PrettyText.cook("***a***a").should match_html("<p><strong><em>a</em></strong>a</p>")
+    PrettyText.cook("***\\****a").should match_html("<p><strong><em>*</em></strong>a</p>")
+  end
+
 end