diff --git a/src/escape.rs b/src/escape.rs
index 334623d..8dac100 100644
--- a/src/escape.rs
+++ b/src/escape.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,27 @@ pub fn html_escape_into(out: &mut String, s: &str) {
     }
 }
 
+/// Escape characters for safe embedding in code blocks.
+///
+/// Only escapes `&`, `<`, `>` — quotes are safe inside `<pre><code>`.
+pub fn code_escape(s: &str) -> String {
+    let mut result = String::with_capacity(s.len());
+    code_escape_into(&mut result, s);
+    result
+}
+
+/// Escape code block characters into an existing string.
+pub fn code_escape_into(out: &mut String, s: &str) {
+    for c in s.chars() {
+        match c {
+            '&' => out.push_str("&amp;"),
+            '<' => out.push_str("&lt;"),
+            '>' => out.push_str("&gt;"),
+            _ => out.push(c),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// Escape XML special characters for safe embedding in XML documents.
 ///
 /// Escapes: `&`, `<`, `>`, `"`, `'`
diff --git a/src/highlight.rs b/src/highlight.rs
index ed90ace..f6fc5c1 100644
--- a/src/highlight.rs
+++ b/src/highlight.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::sync::LazyLock;
 use std::time::Duration;
 
-use crate::escape::{html_escape, html_escape_into};
+use crate::escape::{code_escape, code_escape_into};
 use ropey::RopeSlice;
 use tree_house::highlighter::{Highlight, HighlightEvent, Highlighter};
 use tree_house::{
@@ -565,14 +565,14 @@ pub fn highlight_code(lang: Language, source: &str) -> String {
 
     // Check if we have a config for this language
     if !loader.configs.contains_key(&lang) {
-        return html_escape(source);
+        return code_escape(source);
     }
 
     // Parse the syntax tree
     let rope = RopeSlice::from(source);
     let syntax = match Syntax::new(rope, lang.to_th_language(), Duration::from_secs(5), loader) {
         Ok(s) => s,
-        Err(_) => return html_escape(source),
+        Err(_) => return code_escape(source),
     };
 
     // Create highlighter and render
@@ -595,7 +595,7 @@ fn render_html<'a>(source: &str, mut highlighter: Highlighter<'a, 'a, SukrLoader
             let end = next_pos as usize;
             if start < source.len() {
                 let text = &source[start..end.min(source.len())];
-                html_escape_into(&mut html, text);
+                code_escape_into(&mut html, text);
             }
         }
 
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ mod tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_html_escape() {
-        let escaped = html_escape("<script>alert('xss')</script>");
+        let escaped = code_escape("<script>alert('xss')</script>");
         assert!(!escaped.contains('<'));
         assert!(escaped.contains("&lt;"));
     }
diff --git a/src/render.rs b/src/render.rs
index 38bb835..947e686 100644
--- a/src/render.rs
+++ b/src/render.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 //! Markdown to HTML rendering via pulldown-cmark with syntax highlighting.
 
-use crate::escape::html_escape;
+use crate::escape::{code_escape, html_escape};
 use crate::highlight::{highlight_code, Language};
 use pulldown_cmark::{CodeBlockKind, Event, HeadingLevel, Options, Parser, Tag, TagEnd};
 use serde::Serialize;
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ pub fn markdown_to_html(markdown: &str) -> (String, Vec<Anchor>) {
     let mut anchors = Vec::new();
     let mut code_block_lang: Option<String> = None;
     let mut code_block_content = String::new();
+    let mut in_code_block = false;
 
     // Image alt text accumulation state
     let mut image_alt_content: Option<String> = None;
@@ -54,9 +55,10 @@ pub fn markdown_to_html(markdown: &str) -> (String, Vec<Anchor>) {
                     }
                     CodeBlockKind::Indented => None,
                 };
+                in_code_block = true;
                 code_block_content.clear();
             }
-            Event::Text(text) if code_block_lang.is_some() => {
+            Event::Text(text) if in_code_block => {
                 // Accumulate code block content
                 code_block_content.push_str(&text);
             }
@@ -100,13 +102,14 @@ pub fn markdown_to_html(markdown: &str) -> (String, Vec<Anchor>) {
                         } else {
                             html_output.push('>');
                         }
-                        html_output.push_str(&html_escape(&code_block_content));
+                        html_output.push_str(&code_escape(&code_block_content));
                     }
 
                     html_output.push_str("</code></pre>\n");
                 }
 
                 code_block_lang = None;
+                in_code_block = false;
                 code_block_content.clear();
             }
             Event::Text(text) if heading_level.is_some() => {
@@ -283,12 +286,12 @@ fn start_tag_to_html(tag: &Tag) -> String {
             dest_url, title, ..
         } => {
             if title.is_empty() {
-                format!("<a href=\"{}\">", html_escape(&dest_url))
+                format!("<a href=\"{}\">", html_escape(dest_url))
             } else {
                 format!(
                     "<a href=\"{}\" title=\"{}\">",
-                    html_escape(&dest_url),
-                    html_escape(&title)
+                    html_escape(dest_url),
+                    html_escape(title)
                 )
             }
         }
@@ -496,4 +499,24 @@ Config details.
             "special chars in src should be escaped"
         );
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_unlabeled_code_block_preserves_quotes() {
+        // Code block without language specifier should preserve quotes
+        let md = "```\nContent-Security-Policy: default-src 'self';\n```";
+        let (html, _) = markdown_to_html(md);
+
+        // Should be inside <pre><code>
+        assert!(html.contains("<pre><code>"), "should have code block");
+        // Quotes should NOT be escaped (only <, >, & need escaping in code)
+        assert!(
+            html.contains("'self'"),
+            "single quotes should be preserved in code blocks"
+        );
+        // Should NOT have escaped quotes
+        assert!(
+            !html.contains("&#39;"),
+            "quotes should not be HTML-escaped in code blocks"
+        );
+    }
 }