diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/poll_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/poll_module.py
index 3f9194031e..e703f74812 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/poll_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/poll_module.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ from copy import deepcopy
 from collections import OrderedDict
 
 from lxml import etree
+from openedx.core.djangolib.markup import Text
 from pkg_resources import resource_string
 
 from xmodule.x_module import XModule
@@ -195,9 +196,11 @@ class PollDescriptor(PollFields, MakoModuleDescriptor, XmlDescriptor):
         xml_object.set('display_name', self.display_name)
 
         def add_child(xml_obj, answer):
+            # Escape answer text before adding to xml tree.
+            answer_text = unicode(Text(answer['text']))
             child_str = u'<{tag_name} id="{id}">{text}</{tag_name}>'.format(
                 tag_name=self._child_tag_name, id=answer['id'],
-                text=answer['text'])
+                text=answer_text)
             child_node = etree.fromstring(child_str)
             xml_object.append(child_node)
 
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_poll.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_poll.py
index ea9fba7948..d65caac7b2 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_poll.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_poll.py
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 """Test for Poll Xmodule functional logic."""
+from mock import Mock
+
 from xmodule.poll_module import PollDescriptor
 from . import LogicTest
+from .test_import import DummySystem
 
 
 class PollModuleTest(LogicTest):
@@ -30,3 +33,32 @@ class PollModuleTest(LogicTest):
         self.assertEqual(total, 2)
         self.assertDictEqual(callback, {'objectName': 'Conditional'})
         self.assertEqual(self.xmodule.poll_answer, 'No')
+
+    def test_poll_export_with_unescaped_characters_xml(self):
+        """
+        Make sure that poll_module will export fine if its xml contains
+        unescaped characters.
+        """
+        module_system = DummySystem(load_error_modules=True)
+        id_generator = Mock()
+        id_generator.target_course_id = self.xmodule.course_id
+        sample_poll_xml = '''
+        <poll_question display_name="Poll Question">
+            <p>How old are you?</p>
+            <answer id="less18">18</answer>
+        </poll_question>
+        '''
+
+        output = PollDescriptor.from_xml(sample_poll_xml, module_system, id_generator)
+        # Update the answer with invalid character.
+        invalid_characters_poll_answer = output.answers[0]
+        # Invalid less-than character.
+        invalid_characters_poll_answer['text'] = '< 18'
+        output.answers[0] = invalid_characters_poll_answer
+        output.save()
+
+        xml = output.definition_to_xml(None)
+        # Extract texts of all children.
+        child_texts = xml.xpath('//text()')
+        # Last index of child_texts contains text of answer tag.
+        self.assertEqual(child_texts[-1], '< 18')