diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/input.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/input.py
index cce7bea519..b444bf1cf4 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/input.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/input.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from calibre.customize.conversion import InputFormatPlugin, OptionRecommendation
 from calibre.ebooks.txt.processor import convert_basic, convert_markdown, \
     separate_paragraphs_single_line, separate_paragraphs_print_formatted, \
     preserve_spaces
+from calibre import _ent_pat, xml_entity_to_unicode
 
 class TXTInput(InputFormatPlugin):
 
@@ -55,6 +56,8 @@ class TXTInput(InputFormatPlugin):
         if options.preserve_spaces:
             txt = preserve_spaces(txt)
 
+        txt = _ent_pat.sub(xml_entity_to_unicode, txt)
+
         if options.markdown:
             log.debug('Running text though markdown conversion...')
             try: