diff --git a/lib/markdown.awk b/lib/markdown.awk
index e99a8fc..f7b5ebb 100755
--- a/lib/markdown.awk
+++ b/lib/markdown.awk
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ function escape_html(str) {
     # gsub(/&/, "\\&", str)  # Must be done first!
     gsub(/</, "\\&lt;", str)
     gsub(/>/, "\\&gt;", str)
-    gsub(/*/, "\\&#42;", str)
+    gsub(/\*/, "\\&#42;", str)
     gsub(/\\/, "\\\\", str)
     return str
 }