diff --git a/cmd/zenity/build.sh b/cmd/zenity/build.sh
index 97fa695..d8d4962 100755
--- a/cmd/zenity/build.sh
+++ b/cmd/zenity/build.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-#!/bin/bash
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -Eeuo pipefail
 
 TAG=$(git tag --points-at HEAD)
 echo 'package main; const tag = "'$TAG'"' > tag.go
diff --git a/cmd/zenity/main.go b/cmd/zenity/main.go
index a2563c2..d61d36b 100644
--- a/cmd/zenity/main.go
+++ b/cmd/zenity/main.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/ncruces/go-strftime"
 	"github.com/ncruces/zenity"
+	"github.com/ncruces/zenity/internal/zencmd"
 	"github.com/ncruces/zenity/internal/zenutil"
 )
 
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ var (
 
 	// Message options
 	noWrap    bool
+	noMarkup  bool
 	ellipsize bool
 
 	// Entry options
@@ -219,8 +221,8 @@ func setupFlags() {
 	// Message options
 	flag.StringVar(&icon, "icon-name", "", "Set the dialog `icon` (dialog-error, dialog-information, dialog-question, dialog-warning)")
 	flag.BoolVar(&noWrap, "no-wrap", false, "Do not enable text wrapping")
+	flag.BoolVar(&noMarkup, "no-markup", false, "Do not enable Pango markup")
 	flag.BoolVar(&ellipsize, "ellipsize", false, "Enable ellipsizing in the dialog text")
-	flag.Bool("no-markup", true, "Do not enable Pango markup")
 
 	// Entry options
 	flag.StringVar(&entryText, "entry-text", "", "Set the entry `text`")
@@ -463,6 +465,12 @@ func loadFlags() []zenity.Option {
 	if ellipsize {
 		opts = append(opts, zenity.Ellipsize())
 	}
+	if noMarkup == false {
+		switch {
+		case errorDlg, infoDlg, warningDlg, questionDlg:
+			text = zencmd.StripMarkup(text)
+		}
+	}
 
 	// Entry options
 
diff --git a/cmd/zenity/notify.go b/cmd/zenity/notify.go
index f32b74e..b6bf629 100644
--- a/cmd/zenity/notify.go
+++ b/cmd/zenity/notify.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/ncruces/zenity"
+	"github.com/ncruces/zenity/internal/zencmd"
 	"github.com/ncruces/zenity/internal/zenutil"
 )
 
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ func notify(opts ...zenity.Option) error {
 		var cmd, msg string
 		if n := strings.IndexByte(line, ':'); n >= 0 {
 			cmd = strings.TrimSpace(line[:n])
-			msg = strings.TrimSpace(zenutil.Unescape(line[n+1:]))
+			msg = strings.TrimSpace(zencmd.Unescape(line[n+1:]))
 		} else {
 			fmt.Fprint(os.Stderr, "Could not parse command from stdin")
 		}
diff --git a/internal/zencmd/markup.go b/internal/zencmd/markup.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..34919fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/zencmd/markup.go
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package zencmd
+
+import (
+	"encoding/xml"
+	"io"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// StripMarkup is internal.
+func StripMarkup(s string) string {
+	// Strips XML markup described in:
+	// https://docs.gtk.org/Pango/pango_markup.html
+
+	dec := xml.NewDecoder(strings.NewReader(s))
+	var buf strings.Builder
+
+	for {
+		t, err := dec.Token()
+		if err == io.EOF {
+			return buf.String()
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			return s
+		}
+		if t, ok := t.(xml.CharData); ok {
+			buf.Write(t)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/zencmd/markup_test.go b/internal/zencmd/markup_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e66b821
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/zencmd/markup_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package zencmd
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+var markupTests = []struct {
+	data string
+	want string
+}{
+	// success cases
+	{"", ``},
+	{"abc", `abc`},
+	{"&lt;", `<`},
+	{"&amp;", `&`},
+	{"&quot;", `"`},
+	{"<i></i>", ``},
+	{"<i>abc</i>", `abc`},
+	{"<i>&quot;</i>", `"`},
+	{"<!--abc-->", ``},
+
+	// failure cases
+	{"<", `<`},
+	{"<i", `<i`},
+	{"<i>", `<i>`},
+	{"<i></b>", `<i></b>`},
+	{"<i>&amp</i>", `<i>&amp</i>`},
+}
+
+func TestStripMarkup(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, test := range markupTests {
+		if got := StripMarkup(test.data); got != test.want {
+			t.Errorf("StripMarkup(%q) = %q; want %q", test.data, got, test.want)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/zencmd/pkg.go b/internal/zencmd/pkg.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f3540bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/zencmd/pkg.go
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+// Package zencmd is internal. DO NOT USE.
+package zencmd
diff --git a/internal/zenutil/unescape.go b/internal/zencmd/unescape.go
similarity index 99%
rename from internal/zenutil/unescape.go
rename to internal/zencmd/unescape.go
index eede67f..7cd6fdf 100644
--- a/internal/zenutil/unescape.go
+++ b/internal/zencmd/unescape.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package zenutil
+package zencmd
 
 import "strings"
 
diff --git a/internal/zenutil/unescape_test.go b/internal/zencmd/unescape_test.go
similarity index 98%
rename from internal/zenutil/unescape_test.go
rename to internal/zencmd/unescape_test.go
index 98c342f..13fe902 100644
--- a/internal/zenutil/unescape_test.go
+++ b/internal/zencmd/unescape_test.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package zenutil
+package zencmd
 
 import (
 	"testing"