diff --git a/ietf/templates/base.html b/ietf/templates/base.html
index 30fb6e41f..06d64f685 100644
--- a/ietf/templates/base.html
+++ b/ietf/templates/base.html
@@ -84,7 +84,13 @@
       </nav>
     {% endwith %}
       <div class="container-fluid">
-        {% bootstrap_messages %}
+        {% comment %} {% bootstrap_messages %} {% endcomment %}
+        {% for message in messages %}
+            <div class="alert{% if message.level_tag %} alert-{% if message.level_tag == 'error' %}danger{% else %}{{ message.level_tag }}{% endif %}{% endif %}{% if message.extra_tags %} {{message.extra_tags}}{% endif %} alert-dismissable">
+                <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="alert" aria-hidden="true">&#215;</button>
+                {{ message|safe }}
+            </div>
+        {% endfor %}
         {% if request.COOKIES.left_menu != "off" and not hide_menu %} {# ugly hack for the more or less unported meeting agenda edit pages #}
           <div class="row">
 	    <div class="col-md-2 visible-md visible-lg leftmenu">
diff --git a/ietf/utils/mail.py b/ietf/utils/mail.py
index deeaa67e2..ac3c92e22 100644
--- a/ietf/utils/mail.py
+++ b/ietf/utils/mail.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ from django.contrib import messages
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 from django.template.loader import render_to_string
 from django.template import Context,RequestContext
+from django.template.defaultfilters import escape as html_escape
 import ietf
 from ietf.utils.log import log
 import sys
@@ -240,7 +241,7 @@ def show_that_mail_was_sent(request,leadline,msg,bcc):
                     info += "Cc: %s\n" % msg.get('Cc')
                 if bcc:
                     info += "Bcc: %s\n" % bcc
-                messages.info(request,info,extra_tags='preformatted',fail_silently=True)
+                messages.info(request,html_escape(info),extra_tags='preformatted',fail_silently=True)
 
 def send_mail_mime(request, to, frm, subject, msg, cc=None, extra=None, toUser=False, bcc=None):
     """Send MIME message with content already filled in."""