diff --git a/highlight.scm b/highlight.scm
index 9961f60..d6155ce 100644
--- a/highlight.scm
+++ b/highlight.scm
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-(import chicken scheme)
+(import chicken scheme data-structures)
 (use colorize irregex srfi-13 files)
 
 (define *file* (cadr (argv)))
@@ -65,10 +65,17 @@
     ((html) 'html)
     (else #f)))
 
+;; based on string-translate* example from CHICKEN Scheme docs
+(define (text->html text)
+  (string-translate*
+   text
+   '(("<" . "&lt;") (">" . "&gt;") ("\"" . "&quot;")
+     (" " . "&nbsp;") ("'" . "&#x27;")) ))
+
 (let ((type (or (guess-type-by-emacs-major-mode-variable *file-contents*)
                 (guess-type-by-file-extension *file*))))
   (if (not type)
-      (begin (display *file-contents*) (exit 0))
+      (begin (display (text->html *file-contents*)) (exit 0))
       (begin
         (display
          "<style>