diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/core/__tests__/toc.test.js b/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/core/__tests__/toc.test.js
index 810af4fa41..0a730f5ba7 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/core/__tests__/toc.test.js
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/core/__tests__/toc.test.js
@@ -38,6 +38,24 @@ describe('getTOC', () => {
     expect(headingsJson).toContain('bar-8'); // maximum unique bar index is 8
     expect(headingsJson).toContain('4th level headings');
   });
+
+  describe('stripping of HTML', () => {
+    test('correctly removes', () => {
+      const headings = getTOC(`## <a name="foo"></a> Foo`, 'h2', []);
+
+      expect(headings[0].hashLink).toEqual('foo');
+      expect(headings[0].rawContent).toEqual(`<a name="foo"></a> Foo`);
+      expect(headings[0].content).toEqual('Foo');
+    });
+
+    test('retains formatting from Markdown', () => {
+      const headings = getTOC(`## <a name="foo"></a> _Foo_`, 'h2', []);
+
+      expect(headings[0].hashLink).toEqual('foo');
+      expect(headings[0].rawContent).toEqual(`<a name="foo"></a> _Foo_`);
+      expect(headings[0].content).toEqual('<em>Foo</em>');
+    });
+  });
 });
 
 describe('insertTOC', () => {
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/core/toc.js b/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/core/toc.js
index d413367d5f..36626be16a 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/core/toc.js
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-1.x/lib/core/toc.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 const Remarkable = require('remarkable');
 const mdToc = require('markdown-toc');
+const striptags = require('striptags');
 const toSlug = require('./toSlug');
 
 const tocRegex = new RegExp('<AUTOGENERATED_TABLE_OF_CONTENTS>', 'i');
@@ -34,15 +35,20 @@ function getTOC(content, headingTags = 'h2', subHeadingTags = 'h3') {
   headings.forEach(heading => {
     // we need always generate slugs to ensure, that we will have consistent
     // slug indexes for headings with the same names
-    const hashLink = toSlug(heading.content, context);
+    const rawContent = heading.content;
+    const safeContent = striptags(rawContent);
+    const rendered = md.renderInline(safeContent);
+
+    // We striptags again here as to not end up with html tags
+    // from markdown or markdown in our links
+    const hashLink = toSlug(striptags(rendered), context);
     if (!allowedHeadingLevels.includes(heading.lvl)) {
       return;
     }
-    const rawContent = heading.content;
     const entry = {
       hashLink,
       rawContent,
-      content: md.renderInline(rawContent),
+      content: rendered,
       children: [],
     };
     if (headingLevels.includes(heading.lvl)) {
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-1.x/package.json b/packages/docusaurus-1.x/package.json
index 5fc0d6f3c0..553fb02ea1 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-1.x/package.json
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-1.x/package.json
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@
     "request": "^2.88.0",
     "shelljs": "^0.8.3",
     "sitemap": "^3.2.2",
+    "striptags": "^3.1.1",
     "tcp-port-used": "^1.0.1",
     "tiny-lr": "^1.1.1",
     "tree-node-cli": "^1.2.5",
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index e9b4714238..ff3a957613 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -14559,6 +14559,11 @@ strip-outer@^1.0.0:
   dependencies:
     escape-string-regexp "^1.0.2"
 
+striptags@^3.1.1:
+  version "3.1.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/striptags/-/striptags-3.1.1.tgz#c8c3e7fdd6fb4bb3a32a3b752e5b5e3e38093ebd"
+  integrity sha1-yMPn/db7S7OjKjt1LltePjgJPr0=
+
 strong-log-transformer@^2.0.0:
   version "2.1.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/strong-log-transformer/-/strong-log-transformer-2.1.0.tgz#0f5ed78d325e0421ac6f90f7f10e691d6ae3ae10"