diff --git a/lib/oga.rb b/lib/oga.rb
index 5c18861..e0804f3 100644
--- a/lib/oga.rb
+++ b/lib/oga.rb
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ end
 #:nocov:
 
 require_relative 'oga/xml/html_void_elements'
+require_relative 'oga/xml/entities'
 require_relative 'oga/xml/querying'
 require_relative 'oga/xml/traversal'
 require_relative 'oga/xml/node'
diff --git a/lib/oga/xml/attribute.rb b/lib/oga/xml/attribute.rb
index cbe2821..d291c4f 100644
--- a/lib/oga/xml/attribute.rb
+++ b/lib/oga/xml/attribute.rb
@@ -87,7 +87,9 @@ module Oga
           full_name = name
         end
 
-        return %Q(#{full_name}="#{value}")
+        enc_value = value ? Entities.encode(value) : nil
+
+        return %Q(#{full_name}="#{enc_value}")
       end
 
       ##
diff --git a/lib/oga/xml/entities.rb b/lib/oga/xml/entities.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c054705
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/oga/xml/entities.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+module Oga
+  module XML
+    module Entities
+      ##
+      # Hash containing XML entities and the corresponding characters.
+      #
+      # The `&` mapping must come first to ensure proper conversion of non
+      # encoded to encoded forms (see {Oga::XML::Text#to_xml}).
+      #
+      # @return [Hash]
+      #
+      DECODE_MAPPING = {
+        '&' => '&',
+        '&lt;'  => '<',
+        '&gt;'  => '>'
+      }
+
+      ##
+      # Hash containing characters and the corresponding XML entities.
+      #
+      # @return [Hash]
+      #
+      ENCODE_MAPPING = DECODE_MAPPING.invert
+
+      ##
+      # Decodes XML entities.
+      #
+      # @param [String] input
+      # @return [String]
+      #
+      def self.decode(input)
+        if input.include?('&')
+          DECODE_MAPPING.each do |find, replace|
+            input = input.gsub(find, replace)
+          end
+        end
+
+        return input
+      end
+
+      ##
+      # Encodes special characters as XML entities.
+      #
+      # @param [String] input
+      # @return [String]
+      #
+      def self.encode(input)
+        ENCODE_MAPPING.each do |from, to|
+          input = input.gsub(from, to) if input.include?(from)
+        end
+
+        return input
+      end
+    end # Entities
+  end # XML
+end # Oga
diff --git a/lib/oga/xml/lexer.rb b/lib/oga/xml/lexer.rb
index be91028..1fd396d 100644
--- a/lib/oga/xml/lexer.rb
+++ b/lib/oga/xml/lexer.rb
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ module Oga
       # @param [String] value The data between the quotes.
       #
       def on_string(value)
-        add_token(:T_STRING, value)
+        add_token(:T_STRING, Entities.decode(value))
       end
 
       ##
@@ -348,7 +348,9 @@ module Oga
       # @param [String] value
       #
       def on_text(value)
-        add_token(:T_TEXT, value) unless value.empty?
+        return if value.empty?
+
+        add_token(:T_TEXT, Entities.decode(value))
       end
 
       ##
diff --git a/lib/oga/xml/text.rb b/lib/oga/xml/text.rb
index b7d4dcf..86bc4b5 100644
--- a/lib/oga/xml/text.rb
+++ b/lib/oga/xml/text.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,12 @@ module Oga
     # have any children, attributes and the likes; just text.
     #
     class Text < CharacterNode
-
+      ##
+      # @see [Oga::XML::CharacterNode#to_xml]
+      #
+      def to_xml
+        return Entities.encode(super)
+      end
     end # Text
   end # XML
 end # Oga
diff --git a/spec/oga/xml/attribute_spec.rb b/spec/oga/xml/attribute_spec.rb
index 23e1e4f..f15de0b 100644
--- a/spec/oga/xml/attribute_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/oga/xml/attribute_spec.rb
@@ -78,6 +78,12 @@ describe Oga::XML::Attribute do
 
       attr.to_xml.should == 'xmlns:class=""'
     end
+
+    example 'convert special characters to XML entities' do
+      attr = described_class.new(:name => 'href', :value => '&<>')
+
+      attr.to_xml.should == 'href="&amp;&lt;&gt;"'
+    end
   end
 
   context '#inspect' do
diff --git a/spec/oga/xml/entities_spec.rb b/spec/oga/xml/entities_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89e2de0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/oga/xml/entities_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe Oga::XML::Entities do
+  context 'decode' do
+    example 'decode &amp; into &' do
+      described_class.decode('&amp;').should == '&'
+    end
+
+    example 'decode &lt; into <' do
+      described_class.decode('&lt;').should == '<'
+    end
+
+    example 'decode &gt; into >' do
+      described_class.decode('&gt;').should == '>'
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'encode' do
+    example 'encode & as &amp;' do
+      described_class.encode('&').should == '&amp;'
+    end
+
+    example 'encode < as &lt;' do
+      described_class.encode('<').should == '&lt;'
+    end
+
+    example 'encode > as &gt;' do
+      described_class.encode('>').should == '&gt;'
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/oga/xml/lexer/entities_spec.rb b/spec/oga/xml/lexer/entities_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e5ba251
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/oga/xml/lexer/entities_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe Oga::XML::Lexer do
+  context 'converting XML entities in text tokens' do
+    example 'convert &amp; into &' do
+      lex('&amp;').should == [[:T_TEXT, '&', 1]]
+    end
+
+    example 'convert &lt; into <' do
+      lex('&lt;').should == [[:T_TEXT, '<', 1]]
+    end
+
+    example 'convert &gt; into >' do
+      lex('&gt;').should == [[:T_TEXT, '>', 1]]
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'converting XML entities in string tokens' do
+    example 'convert &amp; into &' do
+      lex('<foo class="&amp;" />').should == [
+        [:T_ELEM_START, nil, 1],
+        [:T_ELEM_NAME, 'foo', 1],
+        [:T_ATTR, 'class', 1],
+        [:T_STRING, '&', 1],
+        [:T_ELEM_END, nil, 1]
+      ]
+    end
+
+    example 'convert &lt; into <' do
+      lex('<foo class="&lt;" />').should == [
+        [:T_ELEM_START, nil, 1],
+        [:T_ELEM_NAME, 'foo', 1],
+        [:T_ATTR, 'class', 1],
+        [:T_STRING, '<', 1],
+        [:T_ELEM_END, nil, 1]
+      ]
+    end
+
+    example 'convert &gt; into >' do
+      lex('<foo class="&gt;" />').should == [
+        [:T_ELEM_START, nil, 1],
+        [:T_ELEM_NAME, 'foo', 1],
+        [:T_ATTR, 'class', 1],
+        [:T_STRING, '>', 1],
+        [:T_ELEM_END, nil, 1]
+      ]
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/oga/xml/text_spec.rb b/spec/oga/xml/text_spec.rb
index 6fd2728..0c5ff07 100644
--- a/spec/oga/xml/text_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/oga/xml/text_spec.rb
@@ -15,12 +15,16 @@ describe Oga::XML::Text do
   end
 
   context '#to_xml' do
-    before do
-      @instance = described_class.new(:text => 'foo')
+    example 'generate the corresponding XML' do
+      node = described_class.new(:text => 'foo')
+
+      node.to_xml.should == 'foo'
     end
 
-    example 'generate the corresponding XML' do
-      @instance.to_xml.should == 'foo'
+    example 'encode special characters as XML entities' do
+      node = described_class.new(:text => '&<>')
+
+      node.to_xml.should == '&amp;&lt;&gt;'
     end
   end