diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/textileml.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/textileml.py
index 284e4846d9..d7e11695c5 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/textileml.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/textileml.py
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ class TextileMLizer(object):
                 html = re.sub(r'<\s*img[^>]*>', '', html)
 
             text = html2textile(html)
-            text = text.replace('%', '')
 
             # Ensure the section ends with at least two new line characters.
             # This is to prevent the last paragraph from a section being
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/html2textile.py b/src/calibre/utils/html2textile.py
index 82797a81ad..786e912e36 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/html2textile.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/html2textile.py
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ class EchoTarget:
             new_tag = '~'
             newline = ''
         elif tag == 'span':
-            new_tag = '%'
+            new_tag = ''
             newline = ''
         elif tag == 'a':
             self.block = True
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ class EchoTarget:
         elif tag == 'sub':
             self.final_output.append('~')
         elif tag == 'span':
-            self.final_output.append('%')
+            self.final_output.append('')
         elif tag == 'a':
             if self.a_part['title']:
                 textilized = ' "%s (%s)":%s ' % (