diff --git a/autoload/vimwiki/html.vim b/autoload/vimwiki/html.vim
index f9463f2..0da3d81 100644
--- a/autoload/vimwiki/html.vim
+++ b/autoload/vimwiki/html.vim
@@ -1218,16 +1218,14 @@ function! s:parse_line(line, state) abort
   let state.header_ids = a:state.header_ids
 
   let res_lines = []
-
-  let line = s:safe_html_line(a:line)
-
   let processed = 0
+  let line = a:line
 
   if !processed
     " allows insertion of plain text to the final html conversion
     " for example:
     " %plainhtml <div class="mycustomdiv">
-    " inserts that line to the final html file (without %plainhtml prefix)
+    " inserts the line above to the final html file (without %plainhtml prefix)
     let trigger = '%plainhtml'
     if line =~# '^\s*' . trigger
       let lines = []
@@ -1259,6 +1257,8 @@ function! s:parse_line(line, state) abort
     endif
   endif
 
+  let line = s:safe_html_line(a:line)
+
   " pres
   if !processed
     let [processed, lines, state.pre] = s:process_tag_pre(line, state.pre)