diff --git a/bin/atom b/bin/atom
index 91609a8..70b6685 100755
--- a/bin/atom
+++ b/bin/atom
@@ -22,13 +22,15 @@ if [ "$run_user" -eq 0 ]; then
     printf "<id>gopher://cosmic.voyage/</id>\\n"
   } > "${gopher_atom}"
 
+  xml_escape_script='s/&/\&amp;/g; s/</\&lt;/g; s/>/\&gt;/g; s/"/\&quot;/g; s/'"'"'/\&#39;/g'
+
   # Loop through listings gophermap
   loop=0
   while read -r line; do
     loop=$((loop+1))
     if [ "$loop" -lt 20 ]; then
       log=$(printf "%s" "$line" | awk -F'\t' '{print $2}')
-      title=$(printf "%s" "$line" | awk -F'\t' '{print $1}' | sed 's|^.||')
+      title=$(printf "%s" "$line" | awk -F'\t' '{print $1}' | sed -e 's|^.||' -e "$xml_escape_script")
       owner=$(stat -c %U "/var/gopher${log}")
 
       # print item entry for each log
@@ -42,7 +44,7 @@ if [ "$run_user" -eq 0 ]; then
         printf "  <id>gopher://cosmic.voyage/0%s</id>\\n" "$(printf "%s" "$log" | sed 's|\ |%20|g')"
         printf "  <updated>%s</updated>\\n" "$(date -d "$(stat -c %y "/var/gopher${log}")" +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')"
         printf "  <content type=\"html\"><![CDATA[<pre>\\n"
-        sed 's/&/\&amp;/g; s/</\&lt;/g; s/>/\&gt;/g; s/"/\&quot;/g; s/'"'"'/\&#39;/g' "/var/gopher${log}"
+        sed "$xml_escape_script" "/var/gopher${log}"
         printf "</pre>]]></content>\\n"
         printf "</entry>\\n"
 
diff --git a/bin/rss b/bin/rss
index 214885a..8945e3a 100755
--- a/bin/rss
+++ b/bin/rss
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ if [ "$run_user" -eq 0 ]; then
     printf "<description>Messages from the human stellar diaspora</description>\\n"
   } > "${gopher_rss}"
 
+  xml_escape_script='s/&/\&amp;/g; s/</\&lt;/g; s/>/\&gt;/g; s/"/\&quot;/g; s/'"'"'/\&#39;/g'
 
   # Loop through listings gophermap
   loop=0
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ if [ "$run_user" -eq 0 ]; then
     loop=$((loop+1))
     if [ "$loop" -lt 20 ]; then
       log=$(printf "%s" "$line" | awk -F'\t' '{print $2}')
-      title=$(printf "%s" "$line" | awk -F'\t' '{print $1}' | sed 's|^.||')
+      title=$(printf "%s" "$line" | awk -F'\t' '{print $1}' | sed -e 's|^.||' -e "$xml_escape_script")
       owner=$(stat -c %U "/var/gopher${log}")
 
       # print item entry for each log
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ if [ "$run_user" -eq 0 ]; then
         printf "  <guid>gopher://cosmic.voyage/0%s</guid>\\n" "$(printf "%s" "$log" | sed 's|\ |%20|g')"
         printf "  <pubDate>%s GMT</pubDate>\\n" "$(date -d "$(stat -c %y "/var/gopher${log}")" +'%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S')"
         printf "  <description><![CDATA[<pre>\\n"
-        sed 's/&/\&amp;/g; s/</\&lt;/g; s/>/\&gt;/g; s/"/\&quot;/g; s/'"'"'/\&#39;/g' "/var/gopher${log}"
+        sed "$xml_escape_script" "/var/gopher${log}"
         printf "</pre>]]></description>\\n"
         printf "</item>\\n"
       } >> "${gopher_rss}"