diff --git a/lib/text/vtt_text_parser.js b/lib/text/vtt_text_parser.js
index 1c2604a4c3..04dc734c0e 100644
--- a/lib/text/vtt_text_parser.js
+++ b/lib/text/vtt_text_parser.js
@@ -366,7 +366,8 @@ shaka.text.VttTextParser = class {
     end += timeOffset;
 
     // Get the payload.
-    const payload = text.slice(1).join('\n').trim();
+    const payload = VttTextParser.htmlUnescape_(
+        text.slice(1).join('\n').trim());
 
     let cue = null;
     if (styles.has('global')) {
@@ -843,6 +844,39 @@ shaka.text.VttTextParser = class {
 
     return (milliseconds / 1000) + seconds + (minutes * 60) + (hours * 3600);
   }
+
+  /**
+   * This method converts the HTML entities &, <, >, ", and
+   * ' in string to their corresponding characters.
+   *
+   * @param {!string} input
+   * @return {string}
+   * @private
+   */
+  static htmlUnescape_(input) {
+    // Used to map HTML entities to characters.
+    const htmlUnescapes = {
+      '&': '&',
+      '&lt;': '<',
+      '&gt;': '>',
+      '&quot;': '"',
+      '&#39;': '\'',
+    };
+
+    // Used to match HTML entities and HTML characters.
+    const reEscapedHtml = /&(?:amp|lt|gt|quot|#(0+)?39);/g;
+    const reHasEscapedHtml = RegExp(reEscapedHtml.source);
+    // This check is an optimization, since replace always makes a copy
+    if (input && reHasEscapedHtml.test(input)) {
+      return input.replace(reEscapedHtml, (entity) => {
+        // The only thing that might not match the dictionary above is the
+        // single quote, which can be matched by many strings in the regex, but
+        // only has a single entry in the dictionary.
+        return htmlUnescapes[entity] || '\'';
+      });
+    }
+    return input || '';
+  }
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/text/vtt_text_parser_unit.js b/test/text/vtt_text_parser_unit.js
index 7f7d052bbc..56c5cc389a 100644
--- a/test/text/vtt_text_parser_unit.js
+++ b/test/text/vtt_text_parser_unit.js
@@ -849,6 +849,17 @@ describe('VttTextParser', () => {
         {periodStart: 0, segmentStart: 0, segmentEnd: 0, vttOffset: 0});
   });
 
+  it('support escaped html payload', () => {
+    verifyHelper(
+        [
+          {startTime: 20.1, endTime: 40.505, payload: '"Test & 1"'},
+        ],
+        'WEBVTT\n\n' +
+        '00:00:20.100 --> 00:00:40.505\n' +
+        '&quot;Test &amp; 1&quot;',
+        {periodStart: 0, segmentStart: 0, segmentEnd: 0, vttOffset: 0});
+  });
+
   it('supports specific style blocks', () => {
     verifyHelper(
         [