diff --git a/po/check_po b/po/check_po
index 18c2bcc14..15deca2d7 100755
--- a/po/check_po
+++ b/po/check_po
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ class Check_runaway( Check ):
 class Check_xml_chars( Check ):
 	# Special XML characters
 	# It is not allowed to have a quote, an ampersand or an angle bracket
-	xml_chars_pat = re.compile( r'(?<=\W) > | " | & (?!(quot|nbsp|gt|amp);)', re.VERBOSE )
+	xml_chars_pat = re.compile( r'<(?!(b>|/b>|i>|/i>|br/>)) | (?<=!(<b|/b|<i|/i|r/))> | " | & (?!(quot|nbsp|gt|amp);)', re.VERBOSE )
 
 	def __init__( self ):
 		Check.__init__( self )