diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/comments_editor.py b/src/calibre/gui2/comments_editor.py
index ca93145915..ddff830911 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/comments_editor.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/comments_editor.py
@@ -141,6 +141,9 @@ class EditorWidget(QWebView): # {{{
         self.page().setLinkDelegationPolicy(QWebPage.DelegateAllLinks)
         self.page().linkClicked.connect(self.link_clicked)
 
+        self.setHtml('')
+        self.page().setContentEditable(True)
+
     def link_clicked(self, url):
         open_url(url)