diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_tag_helper.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_tag_helper.rb
index 159b2a2b8e3d85705609671475a0ec71b76202ca..d6b74974e9a1826b515f5a2cd16bfdca04706105 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_tag_helper.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_tag_helper.rb
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ def button_tag(label = "Button", options = {})
           options[option] = "button" unless options[option]
         end
 
-        content_tag :button, label.to_s.html_safe, { "type" => options.delete("type") }.update(options)
+        content_tag :button, label, { "type" => options.delete("type") }.update(options)
       end
 
       # Displays an image which when clicked will submit the form.
diff --git a/actionpack/test/template/form_tag_helper_test.rb b/actionpack/test/template/form_tag_helper_test.rb
index 0d29b962d5a54d9689026f177df75108a9681ded..4a584b8db87b20a142da20ee86aac471a857016e 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/template/form_tag_helper_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/template/form_tag_helper_test.rb
@@ -413,6 +413,13 @@ def test_button_tag_with_disabled_option
     )
   end
 
+  def test_button_tag_escape_content
+    assert_dom_equal(
+      %(<button name="button" type="reset" disabled="disabled">&lt;b&gt;Reset&lt;/b&gt;</button>),
+      button_tag("<b>Reset</b>", :type => "reset", :disabled => true)
+    )
+  end
+
   def test_image_submit_tag_with_confirmation
     assert_dom_equal(
       %(<input type="image" src="/images/save.gif" data-confirm="Are you sure?" />),