diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index abd96c37b..18d43ef97 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ gem 'twitter', '2.0.2'
 
 # mail
 
-gem 'markerb', '~> 1.0.0'
+gem 'markerb', :git => 'git://github.com/plataformatec/markerb.git'
 gem 'messagebus_ruby_api', '1.0.3'
 gem 'airbrake'
 gem 'newrelic_rpm'
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 8ee187bfa..deace8cd9 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -30,6 +30,13 @@ GIT
       rspec (>= 1.3.1)
       selenium-webdriver (>= 0.1.3)
 
+GIT
+  remote: git://github.com/plataformatec/markerb.git
+  revision: 93b1e8bea9b8fa89ef930f78ba562f596c022198
+  specs:
+    markerb (1.0.0)
+      redcarpet (>= 2.0)
+
 GEM
   remote: http://rubygems.org/
   specs:
@@ -243,8 +250,6 @@ GEM
       i18n (>= 0.4.0)
       mime-types (~> 1.16)
       treetop (~> 1.4.8)
-    markerb (1.0.0)
-      redcarpet (>= 2.0)
     messagebus_ruby_api (1.0.3)
     mime-types (1.18)
     mini_magick (3.4)
@@ -490,7 +495,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   jquery-rails
   json
   linecache (= 0.46)
-  markerb (~> 1.0.0)
+  markerb!
   messagebus_ruby_api (= 1.0.3)
   mini_magick (= 3.4)
   mobile-fu
diff --git a/config/initializers/markerb.rb b/config/initializers/markerb.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3d7351b6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/initializers/markerb.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+require Rails.root.join("lib", "diaspora", "markdownify_email")
+
+Rails.application.config.markerb.renderer = Diaspora::Markdownify::Email
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/diaspora/markdownify_email.rb b/lib/diaspora/markdownify_email.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c2eba16ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/diaspora/markdownify_email.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+require Rails.root.join("app", "models", "acts_as_taggable_on", "tag")
+
+module Diaspora
+  module Markdownify
+    class Email < Redcarpet::Render::HTML
+      TAG_REGEX = /(?:^|\s)#([#{ActsAsTaggableOn::Tag.tag_text_regexp}]+)/u
+      def preprocess(text)
+        process_tags(text)
+      end
+
+      private
+      def tags(text)
+        text.scan(TAG_REGEX).map { |match| match[0] }
+      end
+
+      def process_tags(text)
+        return text unless text.match(TAG_REGEX)
+        tags(text).each do |tag|
+          text.gsub!(/##{tag}/i, "\\##{tag}")
+        end
+        text
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/lib/diaspora/markdownify_email_spec.rb b/spec/lib/diaspora/markdownify_email_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bcc744b72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/lib/diaspora/markdownify_email_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe Diaspora::Markdownify::Email do
+  describe '#preprocess' do
+    before do
+      @html = Diaspora::Markdownify::Email.new
+    end
+
+    it 'should escape a hashtag' do
+      markdownified = @html.preprocess("#tag")
+      markdownified.should == "\\#tag"
+    end
+
+    it 'should escape multiple hashtags' do
+      markdownified = @html.preprocess("There are #two #tags")
+      markdownified.should == "There are \\#two \\#tags"
+    end
+
+    it 'should not escape headers' do
+      markdownified = @html.preprocess("# header")
+      markdownified.should == "# header"
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "Markdown rendering" do
+    before do
+      @markdown = Redcarpet::Markdown.new(Diaspora::Markdownify::Email)
+      @sample_text = "# Header\n\n#messages containing #hashtags should render properly"
+    end
+
+    it 'should render the message' do
+      rendered = @markdown.render(@sample_text).strip
+      rendered.should == "<h1>Header</h1>\n\n<p>#messages containing #hashtags should render properly</p>"
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/mailers/notifier_spec.rb b/spec/mailers/notifier_spec.rb
index b0ca06b9e..d9aeace5f 100644
--- a/spec/mailers/notifier_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/mailers/notifier_spec.rb
@@ -325,4 +325,13 @@ describe Notifier do
       end
     end
   end
+
+  describe 'hashtags' do
+    it 'escapes hashtags' do
+      mails = Notifier.admin("#Welcome to bureaucracy!", [bob])
+      mails.length.should == 1
+      mail = mails.first
+      mail.body.encoded.should match /#Welcome to bureaucracy!/
+    end
+  end
 end