diff --git a/etemplate/js/et2_widget_textbox.js b/etemplate/js/et2_widget_textbox.js
index 42ed7b6e52..92d36313f7 100644
--- a/etemplate/js/et2_widget_textbox.js
+++ b/etemplate/js/et2_widget_textbox.js
@@ -235,12 +235,7 @@ var et2_textbox_ro = et2_valueWidget.extend([et2_IDetachedDOM],
 		{
 			_value = "";
 		}
-		else
-		{
-			_value = _value.replace(/\n/g,'<br />');
-		}
-		// Use html() or the <br /> gets stripped
-		this.span.html(_value);
+		this.span.text(_value);
 	},
 	/**
 	 * Code for implementing et2_IDetachedDOM
diff --git a/etemplate/templates/default/etemplate2.css b/etemplate/templates/default/etemplate2.css
index 860293051e..b248e9f3a2 100644
--- a/etemplate/templates/default/etemplate2.css
+++ b/etemplate/templates/default/etemplate2.css
@@ -238,6 +238,9 @@ button.et2_button_text:focus, input[type=button]:focus {
 .et2_textbox {
 	resize: none;
 }
+.et2_textbox_ro {
+	white-space: pre-wrap;
+}
 
 .et2_bold {
 	font-weight: bold;
@@ -678,10 +681,10 @@ ul.et2_vfs {
 /**
 * Validation
 */
-input[required] {
+[required] {
 	background-color: #ffffd0;
 }
-input.invalid {
+.invalid {
 	border: 1px solid #a6261d;
 	background-color: #faecec;
 }