diff --git a/matrix/colors.py b/matrix/colors.py
index fc6d3bb..e6121f7 100644
--- a/matrix/colors.py
+++ b/matrix/colors.py
@@ -328,10 +328,6 @@ class MatrixHtmlParser(HTMLParser):
         except AttributeError:
             return HTMLParser.unescape(self, text)
 
-    def feed(self, text):
-        text = self.unescape(text)
-        return HTMLParser.feed(self, text)
-
     def _toggle_attribute(self, attribute):
         if self.text:
             self.substrings.append(
@@ -395,7 +391,13 @@ class MatrixHtmlParser(HTMLParser):
             pass
 
     def handle_data(self, data):
-        self.text = self.text + data
+        self.text += data
+
+    def handle_entityref(self, name):
+        self.text += self.unescape("&{};".format(name))
+
+    def handle_charref(self, name):
+        self.text += self.unescape("&{};".format(name))
 
     def get_substrings(self):
         if self.text:
diff --git a/tests/http_parser_test.py b/tests/http_parser_test.py
index e58903a..fba8e2d 100644
--- a/tests/http_parser_test.py
+++ b/tests/http_parser_test.py
@@ -31,3 +31,11 @@ def test_html_numeric_reference_parsing(entitydef):
     num = entitydef[2]
     parser = MatrixHtmlParser()
     assert parser.unescape('&#{};'.format(num)) == character
+
+
+def test_parsing_of_escaped_brackets():
+    p = MatrixHtmlParser()
+    p.feed('<pre><code>&lt;faketag&gt;</code></pre>')
+    s = p.get_substrings()
+    print(s)
+    assert s[0].text == '<faketag>' and len(s) == 1