diff --git a/src/notifications/manager.h b/src/notifications/manager.h
index 5e7888fc6..62219e465 100644
--- a/src/notifications/manager.h
+++ b/src/notifications/manager.h
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ class NotificationsManager : public QObject {
  private:
 #if defined(Q_OS_LINUX) || defined(Q_OS_FREEBSD)
   QDBusInterface dbus;
+  bool serverSupportsHtml = false;
   uint showNotification(const QString summary,
                         const QString text,
                         const QImage image);
diff --git a/src/notifications/managerlinux.cpp b/src/notifications/managerlinux.cpp
index af9f8b94c..68c219231 100644
--- a/src/notifications/managerlinux.cpp
+++ b/src/notifications/managerlinux.cpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <QtDBus/QDBusConnection>
 #include <QtDBus/QDBusMessage>
 #include <QtDBus/QDBusMetaType>
+#include <QtDBus/QDBusReply>
 
 NotificationsManager::NotificationsManager(QObject *parent)
     : QObject(parent),
@@ -13,6 +14,15 @@ NotificationsManager::NotificationsManager(QObject *parent)
            this) {
   qDBusRegisterMetaType<QImage>();
 
+  const QDBusReply<QStringList> capabilitiesReply = dbus.call("GetCapabilities");
+
+  if (capabilitiesReply.isValid()) {
+      const QStringList capabilities = capabilitiesReply.value();
+      serverSupportsHtml = capabilities.contains("body-markup");
+  } else {
+      qWarning() << "Could not get notification server capabilities" << capabilitiesReply.error();
+  }
+
   QDBusConnection::sessionBus().connect(
       "org.freedesktop.Notifications", "/org/freedesktop/Notifications",
       "org.freedesktop.Notifications", "ActionInvoked", this,
@@ -54,6 +64,8 @@ uint NotificationsManager::showNotification(const QString summary,
     croppedImage = image;
   }
 
+  const QString body = serverSupportsHtml ? text.toHtmlEscaped() : text;
+
   QVariantMap hints;
   hints["image-data"] = croppedImage;
   QList<QVariant> argumentList;
@@ -61,7 +73,7 @@ uint NotificationsManager::showNotification(const QString summary,
   argumentList << uint(0);                              // replace_id
   argumentList << "";                                   // app_icon
   argumentList << summary;                              // summary
-  argumentList << text;                                 // body
+  argumentList << body;                                 // body
   argumentList << (QStringList("default") << "reply");  // actions
   argumentList << hints;                                // hints
   argumentList << int(-1);                              // timeout in ms