diff --git a/Parsedown.php b/Parsedown.php
index 4a85820..28fab36 100755
--- a/Parsedown.php
+++ b/Parsedown.php
@@ -359,6 +359,11 @@ class Parsedown
 
     protected function identifyComment($Line)
     {
+        if ($this->markupEscaped)
+        {
+            return;
+        }
+
         if (isset($Line['text'][3]) and $Line['text'][3] === '-' and $Line['text'][2] === '-' and $Line['text'][1] === '!')
         {
             $Block = array(
diff --git a/test/ParsedownTest.php b/test/ParsedownTest.php
index 3763372..d094f2d 100644
--- a/test/ParsedownTest.php
+++ b/test/ParsedownTest.php
@@ -109,6 +109,10 @@ paragraph
         color: red;
     }
 </style>
+
+comment
+
+<!-- html comment -->
 MARKDOWN_WITH_MARKUP;
 
         $expectedHtml = <<<EXPECTED_HTML
@@ -125,6 +129,8 @@ MARKDOWN_WITH_MARKUP;
     color: red;
 }</code></pre>
 <p>&lt;/style></p>
+<p>comment</p>
+<p>&lt;!-- html comment --></p>
 EXPECTED_HTML;
         $parsedownWithNoMarkup = new Parsedown();
         $parsedownWithNoMarkup->setMarkupEscaped(true);