diff --git a/aard.cc b/aard.cc
index e33936f7..502e4298 100644
--- a/aard.cc
+++ b/aard.cc
@@ -287,7 +287,8 @@ private:
 
     /// Loads the article.
     void loadArticle( quint32 address,
-                      string & articleText );
+                      string & articleText,
+                      bool rawText = false );
     string convert( string const & in_data );
 
     friend class AardArticleRequest;
@@ -411,7 +412,8 @@ string AardDictionary::convert( const string & in )
 }
 
 void AardDictionary::loadArticle( quint32 address,
-                                   string & articleText )
+                                  string & articleText,
+                                  bool rawText )
 {
     quint32 articleOffset = address;
     quint32 articleSize;
@@ -509,7 +511,12 @@ void AardDictionary::loadArticle( quint32 address,
     }
 
     if( !articleText.empty() )
+    {
+      if( rawText )
+        return;
+
       articleText = convert( articleText );
+    }
     else
       articleText = string( QObject::tr( "Article decoding error" ).toUtf8().constData() );
 
diff --git a/zim.cc b/zim.cc
index 915a0c2a..ebe5b3a4 100644
--- a/zim.cc
+++ b/zim.cc
@@ -321,6 +321,8 @@ bool indexIsOldOrBad( string const & indexFile )
 quint32 readArticle( ZimFile & file, ZIM_header & header, quint32 articleNumber, string & result,
                      set< quint32 > * loadedArticles = NULL )
 {
+  result.clear();
+
   while( 1 )
   {
     if( articleNumber >= header.articleCount )
@@ -409,7 +411,6 @@ quint32 readArticle( ZimFile & file, ZIM_header & header, quint32 articleNumber,
     memcpy( offsets, decompressedData.data() + artEntry.blobNumber * 4, sizeof(offsets) );
     quint32 size = offsets[ 1 ] - offsets[ 0 ];
 
-    result.clear();
     result.append( decompressedData, offsets[ 0 ], size );
 
     return articleNumber;
@@ -496,7 +497,8 @@ private:
     /// Loads the article.
     quint32 loadArticle( quint32 address,
                          string & articleText,
-                         set< quint32 > * loadedArticles );
+                         set< quint32 > * loadedArticles,
+                         bool rawText = false );
 
     string convert( string const & in_data );
     friend class ZimArticleRequest;
@@ -589,14 +591,16 @@ void ZimDictionary::loadIcon() throw()
 
 quint32 ZimDictionary::loadArticle( quint32 address,
                                     string & articleText,
-                                    set< quint32 > * loadedArticles )
+                                    set< quint32 > * loadedArticles,
+                                    bool rawText )
 {
 quint32 ret;
   {
     Mutex::Lock _( zimMutex );
     ret = readArticle( df, zimHeader, address, articleText, loadedArticles );
   }
-  articleText = convert( articleText );
+  if( !rawText )
+    articleText = convert( articleText );
   return ret;
 }
 
@@ -808,7 +812,7 @@ void ZimDictionary::getArticleText( uint32_t articleAddress, QString & headword,
     headword.clear();
     string articleText;
 
-    loadArticle( articleAddress, articleText, 0 );
+    loadArticle( articleAddress, articleText, 0, true );
     text = Html::unescape( QString::fromUtf8( articleText.data(), articleText.size() ) );
   }
   catch( std::exception &ex )
@@ -826,7 +830,7 @@ quint32 ZimDictionary::getArticleText( uint32_t articleAddress, QString & headwo
     headword.clear();
     string articleText;
 
-    articleNumber = loadArticle( articleAddress, articleText, loadedArticles );
+    articleNumber = loadArticle( articleAddress, articleText, loadedArticles, true );
     text = Html::unescape( QString::fromUtf8( articleText.data(), articleText.size() ) );
   }
   catch( std::exception &ex )