diff --git a/layouts/_default/_markup/render-heading.html b/layouts/_default/_markup/render-heading.html
index 9ca9fa5484..a0ecdb452e 100644
--- a/layouts/_default/_markup/render-heading.html
+++ b/layouts/_default/_markup/render-heading.html
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {{ partial "heading.html" (dict
   "level" .Level
-  "text" (.Text | plainify | safeHTML)
+  "text" (.Text | safeHTML)
   "id" (.Attributes.id | default .Anchor)
   "class" .Attributes.class
   )
diff --git a/layouts/partials/pagemeta.html b/layouts/partials/pagemeta.html
index 537534f171..0ea05383d9 100644
--- a/layouts/partials/pagemeta.html
+++ b/layouts/partials/pagemeta.html
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
     {{- range . }}
       {{- if and (ge .Level $min) (le .Level $max) }}
         <li>
-          <a class="link lg:no-underline" href="#{{ .ID }}">{{ .Title }}</a>
+          <a class="link lg:no-underline" href="#{{ .ID }}">{{ markdownify .Title }}</a>
         </li>
       {{- end }}
       {{- with .Headings }}
diff --git a/layouts/partials/toc-cli.html b/layouts/partials/toc-cli.html
index 50ea00bd0c..a07ab06b0c 100644
--- a/layouts/partials/toc-cli.html
+++ b/layouts/partials/toc-cli.html
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
           {{ else }}
             href="#{{ $text | anchorize }}"
           {{ end }}
-          >{{ plainify $text }}</a>
+          >{{ markdownify $text }}</a>
       </li>
     {{ end }}
   </ul>