diff --git a/packages/api/package.json b/packages/api/package.json
index 76906a6f1..c7ed1be8c 100644
--- a/packages/api/package.json
+++ b/packages/api/package.json
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@
     "ts-loader": "^9.3.0",
     "typeorm": "^0.3.4",
     "typeorm-naming-strategies": "^4.1.0",
+    "underscore": "^1.13.6",
     "urlsafe-base64": "^1.0.0",
     "uuid": "^8.3.1",
     "voca": "^1.4.0",
diff --git a/packages/api/src/resolvers/highlight/index.ts b/packages/api/src/resolvers/highlight/index.ts
index d14419c03..d2783a26d 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/resolvers/highlight/index.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/resolvers/highlight/index.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-unsafe-assignment */
 /* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/require-await */
 /* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-floating-promises */
-import { authorized } from '../../utils/helpers'
+import { authorized, unescapeHtml } from '../../utils/helpers'
 import {
   CreateHighlightError,
   CreateHighlightErrorCode,
@@ -219,9 +219,14 @@ export const updateHighlightResolver = authorized<
     }
   }
 
+  // unescape HTML entities
+  const annotation = input.annotation
+    ? unescapeHtml(input.annotation)
+    : undefined
+
   const updatedHighlight: HighlightData = {
     ...highlight,
-    annotation: input.annotation,
+    annotation,
     updatedAt: new Date(),
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/api/src/utils/helpers.ts b/packages/api/src/utils/helpers.ts
index 45fefe83c..76ad7776c 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/utils/helpers.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/utils/helpers.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import { updatePage } from '../elastic/pages'
 import path from 'path'
 import normalizeUrl from 'normalize-url'
 import wordsCounter from 'word-counting'
+import _ from 'underscore'
 
 interface InputObject {
   // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
@@ -283,3 +284,7 @@ export const generateRandomColor = (): string => {
       .toUpperCase()
   )
 }
+
+export const unescapeHtml = (html: string): string => {
+  return _.unescape(html)
+}
diff --git a/packages/api/test/resolvers/highlight.test.ts b/packages/api/test/resolvers/highlight.test.ts
index ca5e85967..d179c0ba0 100644
--- a/packages/api/test/resolvers/highlight.test.ts
+++ b/packages/api/test/resolvers/highlight.test.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import { User } from '../../src/entity/user'
 import chaiString from 'chai-string'
 import { createPubSubClient } from '../../src/datalayer/pubsub'
 import { PageContext } from '../../src/elastic/types'
-import { deletePage } from '../../src/elastic/pages'
+import { deletePage, updatePage } from '../../src/elastic/pages'
 
 chai.use(chaiString)
 
@@ -101,6 +101,33 @@ const mergeHighlightQuery = (
   `
 }
 
+const updateHighlightQuery = (
+  authToken: string,
+  highlightId: string,
+  annotation = '_annotation'
+) => {
+  return `
+  mutation {
+    updateHighlight(
+      input: {
+        annotation: "${annotation}",
+        highlightId: "${highlightId}",
+      }
+    ) {
+      ... on UpdateHighlightSuccess {
+        highlight {
+          id
+          annotation
+        }
+      }
+      ... on UpdateHighlightError {
+        errorCodes
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  `
+}
+
 describe('Highlights API', () => {
   let authToken: string
   let user: User
@@ -116,7 +143,7 @@ describe('Highlights API', () => {
 
     authToken = res.body.authToken
     pageId = (await createTestElasticPage(user.id)).id
-    ctx = { pubsub: createPubSubClient(), uid: user.id }
+    ctx = { pubsub: createPubSubClient(), uid: user.id, refresh: true }
   })
 
   after(async () => {
@@ -192,4 +219,42 @@ describe('Highlights API', () => {
       ).to.eq(highlightPositionAnchorIndex)
     })
   })
+
+  describe('updateHighlightMutation', () => {
+    let highlightId: string
+
+    before(async () => {
+      // create test highlight
+      highlightId = generateFakeUuid()
+      await updatePage(
+        pageId,
+        {
+          highlights: [
+            {
+              id: highlightId,
+              shortId: '_short_id_3',
+              annotation: '',
+              userId: user.id,
+              patch: '',
+              quote: '',
+              createdAt: new Date(),
+              updatedAt: new Date(),
+            },
+          ],
+        },
+        ctx
+      )
+    })
+
+    context('when the annotation has HTML reserved characters', () => {
+      it('unescapes the annotation and updates', async () => {
+        const annotation = '> This is a test'
+        const query = updateHighlightQuery(authToken, highlightId, annotation)
+        const res = await graphqlRequest(query, authToken).expect(200)
+        expect(res.body.data.updateHighlight.highlight.annotation).to.eql(
+          '> This is a test'
+        )
+      })
+    })
+  })
 })