diff --git a/modules/ve-mw/ui/dialogs/ve.ui.MWMediaDialog.js b/modules/ve-mw/ui/dialogs/ve.ui.MWMediaDialog.js
index 2b50b387c7..fa21fb973b 100644
--- a/modules/ve-mw/ui/dialogs/ve.ui.MWMediaDialog.js
+++ b/modules/ve-mw/ui/dialogs/ve.ui.MWMediaDialog.js
@@ -780,9 +780,9 @@ ve.ui.MWMediaDialog.prototype.cleanAPIresponse = function ( rawResponse, config
 	}
 
 	// Check if the string should be truncated
-	return isTruncated && !config.ignoreCharLimit ?
-		originalText.substring( 0, charLimit ) + ellipsis :
-		originalText;
+	return mw.html.escape( isTruncated && !config.ignoreCharLimit ?
+		originalText.slice( 0, charLimit ) + ellipsis :
+		originalText );
 };
 
 /**