diff --git a/src/Tests/Logic/StrippableTextTest.cs b/src/Tests/Logic/StrippableTextTest.cs
index 0a8e6987c2..0a9a53fded 100644
--- a/src/Tests/Logic/StrippableTextTest.cs
+++ b/src/Tests/Logic/StrippableTextTest.cs
@@ -57,9 +57,9 @@ public void StrippableTextItalic3()
         public void StrippableTextFontDontTouch()
         {
             var st = new StrippableText("{MAN} Hi, how are you today!");
-            Assert.AreEqual("", st.Pre);
+            Assert.AreEqual("{", st.Pre);
             Assert.AreEqual("!", st.Post);
-            Assert.AreEqual("{MAN} Hi, how are you today", st.StrippedText);
+            Assert.AreEqual("MAN} Hi, how are you today", st.StrippedText);
         }
 
         [TestMethod]
diff --git a/src/libse/Common/HtmlUtil.cs b/src/libse/Common/HtmlUtil.cs
index cb9487c96f..b81b560019 100644
--- a/src/libse/Common/HtmlUtil.cs
+++ b/src/libse/Common/HtmlUtil.cs
@@ -1527,5 +1527,17 @@ public static string GetClosingPair(string tag)
         /// <param name="ch">The character to check.</param>
         /// <returns>True if the character is a start tag symbol; otherwise, false.</returns>
         public static bool IsStartTagSymbol(char ch) => ch == '<' || ch == '{';
+
+        private static readonly HashSet<string> KnownHtmlTags = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
+        {
+            "<i>", "<b>", "<u>" //, "</i>", "</b>", "</u>", "</font>"
+        };
+
+        public static bool IsKnownHtmlTag(string tag)
+        {
+            return KnownHtmlTags.Contains(tag) ||
+                   tag.StartsWith("<font ", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) ||
+                   tag.StartsWith("</", StringComparison.Ordinal);
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/libse/Common/StrippableText.cs b/src/libse/Common/StrippableText.cs
index ef786582b1..a1818f0cad 100644
--- a/src/libse/Common/StrippableText.cs
+++ b/src/libse/Common/StrippableText.cs
@@ -21,99 +21,85 @@ public StrippableText(string text)
         public StrippableText(string input, string stripStartCharacters, string stripEndCharacters)
         {
             OriginalText = input;
-            var text = input;
-
-            Pre = string.Empty;
-            if (text.Length > 0 && ("<{" + stripStartCharacters).Contains(text[0]))
+            var len = input.Length;
+            var l = 0;
+            for (var r = 0; r < len; r++)
             {
-                int beginLength;
-                do
+                if (input[r] == '<' || input[r] == '{')
+                {
+                    l = r;
+                }
+                else if ((input[r] == '>' && input[l] == '<') || (input[r] == '}' && input[l] == '{'))
                 {
-                    beginLength = text.Length;
+                    // get the tag from l to r
+                    var tag = input.Substring(l, r - l + 1);
 
-                    while (text.Length > 0 && stripStartCharacters.Contains(text[0]))
+                    // {man} etc...
+                    if (!HtmlUtil.IsKnownHtmlTag(tag) && !Utilities.IsKnownAssTags(tag))
                     {
-                        Pre += text[0];
-                        text = text.Remove(0, 1);
-                    }
+                        // try to find non-visible char
+                        l++;
+                        while (l < r && stripStartCharacters.Contains(input[l]) || input[l] == '{' || input[l] == '<')
+                        {
+                            l++;
+                        }
 
-                    // ASS/SSA codes like {\an9}
-                    int endIndex = text.IndexOf('}');
-                    if (endIndex > 0 && text.StartsWith("{\\", StringComparison.Ordinal))
-                    {
-                        int nextStartIndex = text.IndexOf('{', 2);
-                        if (nextStartIndex == -1 || nextStartIndex > endIndex)
+                        // non-special char found in between l and r
+                        if (input[l] != '<' && input[l] != '{')
                         {
-                            endIndex++;
-                            Pre += text.Substring(0, endIndex);
-                            text = text.Remove(0, endIndex);
+                            break;
                         }
                     }
 
-                    // tags like <i> or <font face="Segoe Print" color="#ff0000">
-                    endIndex = text.IndexOf('>');
-                    if (text.StartsWith('<') && endIndex >= 2)
-                    {
-                        endIndex++;
-                        Pre += text.Substring(0, endIndex);
-                        text = text.Remove(0, endIndex);
-                    }
+                    l = r + 1;
+                }
+                else if (input[l] != '<' && stripStartCharacters.Contains(input[r]))
+                {
+                    l = r + 1;
+                }
+                else if (input[l] != '<' && input[l] != '{')
+                {
+                    break;
                 }
-                while (text.Length < beginLength);
             }
 
-            Post = string.Empty;
-            if (text.Length > 0 && (">" + stripEndCharacters).Contains(text[text.Length - 1]))
+            var k = len - 1;
+            for (int j = len - 1; j >= l; j--)
             {
-                int beginLength;
-                do
+                if (input[j] == '>')
                 {
-                    beginLength = text.Length;
-
-                    while (text.Length > 0 && stripEndCharacters.Contains(text[text.Length - 1]))
-                    {
-                        Post = text[text.Length - 1] + Post;
-                        text = text.Substring(0, text.Length - 1);
-                    }
-
-                    if (text.EndsWith('>'))
+                    k = j;
+                }
+                else if (input[j] == '<' && input[k] == '>')
+                {
+                    if (!HtmlUtil.IsKnownHtmlTag(input.Substring(j, k - j + 1)))
                     {
-                        // tags </i> </b> </u>
-                        if (text.EndsWith("</i>", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) ||
-                            text.EndsWith("</b>", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) ||
-                            text.EndsWith("</u>", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
-                        {
-                            Post = text.Substring(text.Length - 4) + Post;
-                            text = text.Substring(0, text.Length - 4);
-                        }
-
-                        // tag </font>
-                        if (text.EndsWith("</font>", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+                        while (j > k && stripEndCharacters.Contains(input[k]) || input[k] == '>' || input[k] == '}')
                         {
-                            Post = text.Substring(text.Length - 7) + Post;
-                            text = text.Substring(0, text.Length - 7);
+                            k--;
                         }
 
-                        if (text.EndsWith('>'))
+                        if (input[k] != '>')
                         {
-                            var lastIndexOfStart = text.LastIndexOf("<");
-                            if (lastIndexOfStart >= 0)
-                            {
-                                var tag = text.Substring(lastIndexOfStart);
-                                tag = tag.TrimStart('<').TrimEnd('>');
-                                if (tag.StartsWith("/c.", StringComparison.Ordinal) && !tag.Contains(' ') && !tag.Contains('\n'))
-                                {
-                                    Post = text.Substring(lastIndexOfStart) + Post;
-                                    text = text.Substring(0, lastIndexOfStart);
-                                }
-                            }
+                            break;
                         }
                     }
+
+                    k = j - 1;
+                }
+                else if (input[k] != '>' && stripEndCharacters.Contains(input[j]))
+                {
+                    k = j - 1;
+                }
+                else if (input[k] != '>')
+                {
+                    break;
                 }
-                while (text.Length < beginLength);
             }
 
-            StrippedText = text;
+            StrippedText = input.Substring(l, k - l + 1);
+            Pre = input.Substring(0, l);
+            Post = input.Substring(k + 1);
         }
 
         private static string GetAndInsertNextId(List<string> replaceIds, List<string> replaceNames, string name, int idName)
diff --git a/src/libse/Common/Utilities.cs b/src/libse/Common/Utilities.cs
index aada8425eb..59ba135a33 100644
--- a/src/libse/Common/Utilities.cs
+++ b/src/libse/Common/Utilities.cs
@@ -3313,5 +3313,10 @@ public static SubtitleFormat GetSubtitleFormatByFriendlyName(object value)
         {
             throw new NotImplementedException();
         }
+
+        public static bool IsKnownAssTags(string tag)
+        {
+            return tag.StartsWith("{\\", StringComparison.Ordinal);
+        }
     }
 }