diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/route_time_axis.cc b/gtk2_ardour/route_time_axis.cc
index 6841b5a35f..2afffca3c0 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/route_time_axis.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/route_time_axis.cc
@@ -1591,13 +1591,17 @@ RouteTimeAxisView::update_playlist_tip ()
 			take_name = take_name.substr (idx + group_string.length());
 
 			/* set the playlist button tooltip to the take name */
-			ARDOUR_UI::instance()->set_tip (playlist_button,string_compose(_("Take: %1.%2"), rg->name(), take_name));
+			ARDOUR_UI::instance()->set_tip (
+				playlist_button,
+				string_compose(_("Take: %1.%2"), escape_angled_brackets (rg->name()), escape_angled_brackets (take_name))
+				);
+			
 			return;
 		}
 	}
 
 	/* set the playlist button tooltip to the playlist name */
-	ARDOUR_UI::instance()->set_tip (playlist_button, _("Playlist") + std::string(": ") + track()->playlist()->name());	
+	ARDOUR_UI::instance()->set_tip (playlist_button, _("Playlist") + std::string(": ") + escape_angled_brackets (track()->playlist()->name()));
 }
 
 
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/utils.cc b/gtk2_ardour/utils.cc
index 96bee1a87b..b8594b7b2f 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/utils.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/utils.cc
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 #include <gtkmm/label.h>
 #include <gtkmm/paned.h>
 #include <gtk/gtkpaned.h>
+#include <boost/algorithm/string.hpp>
 
 #include "pbd/file_utils.h"
 
@@ -680,6 +681,16 @@ escape_underscores (string const & s)
 	return o;
 }
 
+/** Replace < and > with &lt; and &gt; respectively to make < > display correctly in markup strings */
+string
+escape_angled_brackets (string const & s)
+{
+	string o = s;
+	boost::replace_all (o, "<", "&lt;");
+	boost::replace_all (o, ">", "&gt;");
+	return o;
+}
+
 Gdk::Color
 unique_random_color (list<Gdk::Color>& used_colors)
 {
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/utils.h b/gtk2_ardour/utils.h
index 699cd31981..7137f273c6 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/utils.h
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/utils.h
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ void set_pango_fontsize ();
 void resize_window_to_proportion_of_monitor (Gtk::Window*, int, int);
 
 std::string escape_underscores (std::string const &);
+std::string escape_angled_brackets (std::string const &);
 
 Gdk::Color unique_random_color (std::list<Gdk::Color> &);