diff --git a/mod/item.php b/mod/item.php
index b023b97d19..102993dcf2 100644
--- a/mod/item.php
+++ b/mod/item.php
@@ -642,7 +642,7 @@ function item_post(App $a) {
 
 	// Check for hashtags in the body and repair or add hashtag links
 	if ($preview || $orig_post) {
-		Item::setHashtags($datarray);
+		$datarray['body'] = Item::setHashtags($datarray['body']);
 	}
 
 	// preview mode - prepare the body for display and send it via json
diff --git a/src/Model/Item.php b/src/Model/Item.php
index 7a965f80b5..0a242aa058 100644
--- a/src/Model/Item.php
+++ b/src/Model/Item.php
@@ -1780,7 +1780,7 @@ class Item
 
 
 		// Check for hashtags in the body and repair or add hashtag links
-		self::setHashtags($item);
+		$item['body'] = self::setHashtags($item['body']);
 
 		// Fill the cache field
 		self::putInCache($item);
@@ -2424,84 +2424,69 @@ class Item
 		}
 	}
 
-	public static function setHashtags(&$item)
+	public static function setHashtags($body)
 	{
-		$tags = BBCode::getTags($item["body"]);
+		$body = BBCode::performWithEscapedTags($body, ['noparse', 'pre', 'code'], function ($body) {
+			$tags = BBCode::getTags($body);
 
-		// No hashtags?
-		if (!count($tags)) {
-			return false;
-		}
-
-		// What happens in [code], stays in [code]!
-		// escape the # and the [
-		// hint: we will also get in trouble with #tags, when we want markdown in posts -> ### Headline 3
-		$item["body"] = preg_replace_callback("/\[code(.*?)\](.*?)\[\/code\]/ism",
-			function ($match) {
-				// we truly ESCape all # and [ to prevent gettin weird tags in [code] blocks
-				$find = ['#', '['];
-				$replace = [chr(27).'sharp', chr(27).'leftsquarebracket'];
-				return ("[code" . $match[1] . "]" . str_replace($find, $replace, $match[2]) . "[/code]");
-			}, $item["body"]);
-
-		// This sorting is important when there are hashtags that are part of other hashtags
-		// Otherwise there could be problems with hashtags like #test and #test2
-		// Because of this we are sorting from the longest to the shortest tag.
-		usort($tags, function($a, $b) {
-			return strlen($b) <=> strlen($a);
-		});
-
-		$URLSearchString = "^\[\]";
-
-		// All hashtags should point to the home server if "local_tags" is activated
-		if (DI::config()->get('system', 'local_tags')) {
-			$item["body"] = preg_replace("/#\[url\=([$URLSearchString]*)\](.*?)\[\/url\]/ism",
-					"#[url=".DI::baseUrl()."/search?tag=$2]$2[/url]", $item["body"]);
-		}
-
-		// mask hashtags inside of url, bookmarks and attachments to avoid urls in urls
-		$item["body"] = preg_replace_callback("/\[url\=([$URLSearchString]*)\](.*?)\[\/url\]/ism",
-			function ($match) {
-				return ("[url=" . str_replace("#", "&num;", $match[1]) . "]" . str_replace("#", "&num;", $match[2]) . "[/url]");
-			}, $item["body"]);
-
-		$item["body"] = preg_replace_callback("/\[bookmark\=([$URLSearchString]*)\](.*?)\[\/bookmark\]/ism",
-			function ($match) {
-				return ("[bookmark=" . str_replace("#", "&num;", $match[1]) . "]" . str_replace("#", "&num;", $match[2]) . "[/bookmark]");
-			}, $item["body"]);
-
-		$item["body"] = preg_replace_callback("/\[attachment (.*)\](.*?)\[\/attachment\]/ism",
-			function ($match) {
-				return ("[attachment " . str_replace("#", "&num;", $match[1]) . "]" . $match[2] . "[/attachment]");
-			}, $item["body"]);
-
-		// Repair recursive urls
-		$item["body"] = preg_replace("/&num;\[url\=([$URLSearchString]*)\](.*?)\[\/url\]/ism",
-				"&num;$2", $item["body"]);
-
-		foreach ($tags as $tag) {
-			if ((strpos($tag, '#') !== 0) || strpos($tag, '[url=') || strlen($tag) < 2 || $tag[1] == '#') {
-				continue;
+			// No hashtags?
+			if (!count($tags)) {
+				return $body;
 			}
 
-			$basetag = str_replace('_',' ',substr($tag,1));
-			$newtag = '#[url=' . DI::baseUrl() . '/search?tag=' . $basetag . ']' . $basetag . '[/url]';
+			// This sorting is important when there are hashtags that are part of other hashtags
+			// Otherwise there could be problems with hashtags like #test and #test2
+			// Because of this we are sorting from the longest to the shortest tag.
+			usort($tags, function ($a, $b) {
+				return strlen($b) <=> strlen($a);
+			});
 
-			$item["body"] = str_replace($tag, $newtag, $item["body"]);
-		}
+			$URLSearchString = "^\[\]";
 
-		// Convert back the masked hashtags
-		$item["body"] = str_replace("&num;", "#", $item["body"]);
+			// All hashtags should point to the home server if "local_tags" is activated
+			if (DI::config()->get('system', 'local_tags')) {
+				$body = preg_replace("/#\[url\=([$URLSearchString]*)\](.*?)\[\/url\]/ism",
+					"#[url=" . DI::baseUrl() . "/search?tag=$2]$2[/url]", $body);
+			}
 
-		// Remember! What happens in [code], stays in [code]
-		// roleback the # and [
-		$item["body"] = preg_replace_callback("/\[code(.*?)\](.*?)\[\/code\]/ism",
-			function ($match) {
-				// we truly unESCape all sharp and leftsquarebracket
-				$find = [chr(27).'sharp', chr(27).'leftsquarebracket'];
-				$replace = ['#', '['];
-				return ("[code" . $match[1] . "]" . str_replace($find, $replace, $match[2]) . "[/code]");
-			}, $item["body"]);
+			// mask hashtags inside of url, bookmarks and attachments to avoid urls in urls
+			$body = preg_replace_callback("/\[url\=([$URLSearchString]*)\](.*?)\[\/url\]/ism",
+				function ($match) {
+					return ("[url=" . str_replace("#", "&num;", $match[1]) . "]" . str_replace("#", "&num;", $match[2]) . "[/url]");
+				}, $body);
+
+			$body = preg_replace_callback("/\[bookmark\=([$URLSearchString]*)\](.*?)\[\/bookmark\]/ism",
+				function ($match) {
+					return ("[bookmark=" . str_replace("#", "&num;", $match[1]) . "]" . str_replace("#", "&num;", $match[2]) . "[/bookmark]");
+				}, $body);
+
+			$body = preg_replace_callback("/\[attachment (.*)\](.*?)\[\/attachment\]/ism",
+				function ($match) {
+					return ("[attachment " . str_replace("#", "&num;", $match[1]) . "]" . $match[2] . "[/attachment]");
+				}, $body);
+
+			// Repair recursive urls
+			$body = preg_replace("/&num;\[url\=([$URLSearchString]*)\](.*?)\[\/url\]/ism",
+				"&num;$2", $body);
+
+			foreach ($tags as $tag) {
+				if ((strpos($tag, '#') !== 0) || strpos($tag, '[url=') || strlen($tag) < 2 || $tag[1] == '#') {
+					continue;
+				}
+
+				$basetag = str_replace('_', ' ', substr($tag, 1));
+				$newtag = '#[url=' . DI::baseUrl() . '/search?tag=' . $basetag . ']' . $basetag . '[/url]';
+
+				$body = str_replace($tag, $newtag, $body);
+			}
+
+			// Convert back the masked hashtags
+			$body = str_replace("&num;", "#", $body);
+
+			return $body;
+		});
+
+		return $body;
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/src/Module/Debug/Babel.php b/src/Module/Debug/Babel.php
index ecad73f4dc..5d688d6579 100644
--- a/src/Module/Debug/Babel.php
+++ b/src/Module/Debug/Babel.php
@@ -102,14 +102,12 @@ class Babel extends BaseModule
 						'content' => visible_whitespace($bbcode4)
 					];
 
-					$item = ['body' => $bbcode];
-
 					$tags = Text\BBCode::getTags($bbcode);
 
-					Item::setHashtags($item);
+					$body = Item::setHashtags($bbcode);
 					$results[] = [
 						'title'   => DI::l10n()->t('Item Body'),
-						'content' => visible_whitespace($item['body'])
+						'content' => visible_whitespace($body)
 					];
 					$results[] = [
 						'title'   => DI::l10n()->t('Item Tags'),
@@ -125,9 +123,7 @@ class Babel extends BaseModule
 
 					$markdown = XML::unescape($diaspora);
 				case 'markdown':
-					if (!isset($markdown)) {
-						$markdown = trim($_REQUEST['text']);
-					}
+					$markdown = $markdown ?? trim($_REQUEST['text']);
 
 					$results[] = [
 						'title'   => DI::l10n()->t('Source input (Markdown)'),