diff --git a/common/lib/capa/capa/inputtypes.py b/common/lib/capa/capa/inputtypes.py
index 7b89510a12..9adaaa77bc 100644
--- a/common/lib/capa/capa/inputtypes.py
+++ b/common/lib/capa/capa/inputtypes.py
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ def extract_choices(element):
             raise Exception("[courseware.capa.inputtypes.extract_choices] \
                              Expected a <choice> tag; got %s instead"
                              % choice.tag)
-        choice_text = ''.join([x.text for x in choice])
+        choice_text = ''.join([etree.tostring(x) for x in choice])
 
         choices.append((choice.get("name"), choice_text))