diff --git a/markup/goldmark/codeblocks/codeblocks_integration_test.go b/markup/goldmark/codeblocks/codeblocks_integration_test.go
index c3808359d..faa079a81 100644
--- a/markup/goldmark/codeblocks/codeblocks_integration_test.go
+++ b/markup/goldmark/codeblocks/codeblocks_integration_test.go
@@ -147,6 +147,12 @@ title: "p1"
 fmt.Println("Hello, World!");
 §§§
 
+## Plain Code
+
+§§§
+plain <code> & text
+§§§
+
 `
 
 	b := hugolib.Test(t, files)
@@ -154,6 +160,8 @@ fmt.Println("Hello, World!");
 	b.AssertFileContent("public/p1/index.html",
 		"Inner: |<span class=\"line\"><span class=\"cl\"><span class=\"nx\">fmt</span><span class=\"p\">.</span><span class=\"nf\">Println</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"s\">&#34;Hello, World!&#34;</span><span class=\"p\">);</span></span></span>|",
 		"Wrapped: |<div class=\"highlight\"><pre tabindex=\"0\" class=\"chroma\"><code class=\"language-go\" data-lang=\"go\"><span class=\"line\"><span class=\"cl\"><span class=\"nx\">fmt</span><span class=\"p\">.</span><span class=\"nf\">Println</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"s\">&#34;Hello, World!&#34;</span><span class=\"p\">);</span></span></span></code></pre></div>|",
+		"Inner: |plain &lt;code&gt; &amp; text|",
+		"Wrapped: |<pre tabindex=\"0\"><code>plain &lt;code&gt; &amp; text</code></pre>|",
 	)
 }
 
diff --git a/markup/highlight/highlight.go b/markup/highlight/highlight.go
index 8fe304254..bb58b9ca0 100644
--- a/markup/highlight/highlight.go
+++ b/markup/highlight/highlight.go
@@ -181,13 +181,14 @@ func highlight(fw hugio.FlexiWriter, code, lang string, attributes []attributes.
 	if lexer == nil {
 		if cfg.Hl_inline {
 			fmt.Fprintf(w, "<code%s>%s</code>", inlineCodeAttrs(lang), gohtml.EscapeString(code))
-		} else {
-			preWrapper := getPreWrapper(lang, w)
-			fmt.Fprint(w, preWrapper.Start(true, ""))
-			fmt.Fprint(w, gohtml.EscapeString(code))
-			fmt.Fprint(w, preWrapper.End(true))
+			return 0, 0, nil
 		}
-		return 0, 0, nil
+
+		preWrapper := getPreWrapper(lang, w)
+		fmt.Fprint(w, preWrapper.Start(true, ""))
+		fmt.Fprint(w, gohtml.EscapeString(code))
+		fmt.Fprint(w, preWrapper.End(true))
+		return preWrapper.low, preWrapper.high, nil
 	}
 
 	style := styles.Get(cfg.Style)