diff --git a/packages/richtext-lexical/src/packages/@lexical/markdown/MarkdownExport.ts b/packages/richtext-lexical/src/packages/@lexical/markdown/MarkdownExport.ts
index 58d634cb61..edaf0b7900 100644
--- a/packages/richtext-lexical/src/packages/@lexical/markdown/MarkdownExport.ts
+++ b/packages/richtext-lexical/src/packages/@lexical/markdown/MarkdownExport.ts
@@ -205,6 +205,12 @@ function exportTextFormat(
   // bring the whitespace back. So our returned string looks like this: "   **foo**   "
   const frozenString = textContent.trim()
   let output = frozenString
+
+  if (!node.hasFormat('code')) {
+    // Escape any markdown characters in the text content
+    output = output.replace(/([*_`~\\])/g, '\\$1')
+  }
+
   // the opening tags to be added to the result
   let openingTags = ''
   // the closing tags to be added to the result
diff --git a/packages/richtext-lexical/src/packages/@lexical/markdown/MarkdownImport.ts b/packages/richtext-lexical/src/packages/@lexical/markdown/MarkdownImport.ts
index aa731b7e10..888d931093 100644
--- a/packages/richtext-lexical/src/packages/@lexical/markdown/MarkdownImport.ts
+++ b/packages/richtext-lexical/src/packages/@lexical/markdown/MarkdownImport.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ import type {
   Transformer,
 } from './MarkdownTransformers.js'
 
-import { IS_APPLE_WEBKIT, IS_IOS, IS_SAFARI } from '../../../lexical/utils/environment.js'
 import { importTextTransformers } from './importTextTransformers.js'
 import { isEmptyParagraph, transformersByType } from './utils.js'
 
@@ -255,28 +254,26 @@ function createTextFormatTransformersIndex(
     const tagRegExp = tag.replace(/([*^+])/g, '\\$1')
     openTagsRegExp.push(tagRegExp)
 
-    if (IS_SAFARI || IS_IOS || IS_APPLE_WEBKIT) {
-      fullMatchRegExpByTag[tag] = new RegExp(
-        `(${tagRegExp})(?![${tagRegExp}\\s])(.*?[^${tagRegExp}\\s])${tagRegExp}(?!${tagRegExp})`,
-      )
-    } else {
+    // Single-char tag (e.g. "*"),
+    if (tag.length === 1) {
       fullMatchRegExpByTag[tag] = new RegExp(
         `(?<![\\\\${tagRegExp}])(${tagRegExp})((\\\\${tagRegExp})?.*?[^${tagRegExp}\\s](\\\\${tagRegExp})?)((?<!\\\\)|(?<=\\\\\\\\))(${tagRegExp})(?![\\\\${tagRegExp}])`,
       )
+    } else {
+      // Multi‐char tags (e.g. "**")
+      fullMatchRegExpByTag[tag] = new RegExp(
+        `(?<!\\\\)(${tagRegExp})((\\\\${tagRegExp})?.*?[^\\s](\\\\${tagRegExp})?)((?<!\\\\)|(?<=\\\\\\\\))(${tagRegExp})(?!\\\\)`,
+      )
     }
   }
 
   return {
     // Reg exp to find open tag + content + close tag
     fullMatchRegExpByTag,
-    // Reg exp to find opening tags
-    openTagsRegExp: new RegExp(
-      (IS_SAFARI || IS_IOS || IS_APPLE_WEBKIT ? '' : `${escapeRegExp}`) +
-        '(' +
-        openTagsRegExp.join('|') +
-        ')',
-      'g',
-    ),
+
+    // Regexp to locate *any* potential opening tag (longest first).
+    // eslint-disable-next-line regexp/no-useless-character-class, regexp/no-empty-capturing-group, regexp/no-empty-group
+    openTagsRegExp: new RegExp(`${escapeRegExp}(${openTagsRegExp.join('|')})`, 'g'),
     transformersByTag,
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/richtext-lexical/src/packages/@lexical/markdown/importTextTransformers.ts b/packages/richtext-lexical/src/packages/@lexical/markdown/importTextTransformers.ts
index 4d872a0707..c7c7e90938 100644
--- a/packages/richtext-lexical/src/packages/@lexical/markdown/importTextTransformers.ts
+++ b/packages/richtext-lexical/src/packages/@lexical/markdown/importTextTransformers.ts
@@ -78,7 +78,6 @@ export function importTextTransformers(
         textMatchTransformers,
       )
     }
-    return
   } else if (foundTextMatch) {
     const result = importFoundTextMatchTransformer(
       textNode,
@@ -112,9 +111,9 @@ export function importTextTransformers(
         textMatchTransformers,
       )
     }
-    return
-  } else {
-    // Done!
-    return
   }
+  // Handle escape characters
+  const textContent = textNode.getTextContent()
+  const escapedText = textContent.replace(/\\([*_`~])/g, '$1')
+  textNode.setTextContent(escapedText)
 }
diff --git a/test/lexical-mdx/tableJson.ts b/test/lexical-mdx/tableJson.ts
index 2eac7eccb9..abf79b11ca 100644
--- a/test/lexical-mdx/tableJson.ts
+++ b/test/lexical-mdx/tableJson.ts
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ export const tableJson = {
                   format: 0,
                   mode: 'normal',
                   style: '',
-                  text: '         ',
+                  text: ' *         ',
                   type: 'text',
                   version: 1,
                 },
diff --git a/test/lexical-mdx/tests/default.test.ts b/test/lexical-mdx/tests/default.test.ts
index c5ba43f85b..3ed30bdad1 100644
--- a/test/lexical-mdx/tests/default.test.ts
+++ b/test/lexical-mdx/tests/default.test.ts
@@ -376,13 +376,13 @@ there4
     input: `
 | Option            | Default route           | Description                                     |
 | ----------------- | ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
-| \`account\`         |                         | The user's account page.                        |
+| \`account\` \\*         |                         | The user's account page.                        |
 | \`createFirstUser\` | \`/create-first-user\`    | The page to create the first user.              |
 `,
     inputAfterConvertFromEditorJSON: `
 | Option            | Default route           | Description                                     |
 |---|---|---|
-| \`account\`         |                         | The user's account page.                        |
+| \`account\`  \\*         |                         | The user's account page.                        |
 | \`createFirstUser\` | \`/create-first-user\`    | The page to create the first user.              |
 `,
     rootChildren: [tableJson],
@@ -400,6 +400,19 @@ there4
       },
     },
   },
+  {
+    input: `
+<Banner>
+  Escaped \\*
+</Banner>
+`,
+    blockNode: {
+      fields: {
+        blockType: 'Banner',
+        content: textToRichText('Escaped *'),
+      },
+    },
+  },
   {
     input: `\`inline code\``,
     rootChildren: [
@@ -1286,6 +1299,89 @@ Some line [Start of link
       },
     },
   },
+  {
+    input: `
+<Banner>
+  Some line [Text **bold** \\*normal\\*](/some/link)
+</Banner>
+`,
+    blockNode: {
+      fields: {
+        blockType: 'Banner',
+        content: {
+          root: {
+            children: [
+              {
+                children: [
+                  {
+                    detail: 0,
+                    format: 0,
+                    mode: 'normal',
+                    style: '',
+                    text: 'Some line ',
+                    type: 'text',
+                    version: 1,
+                  },
+                  {
+                    children: [
+                      {
+                        detail: 0,
+                        format: 0,
+                        mode: 'normal',
+                        style: '',
+                        text: 'Text ',
+                        type: 'text',
+                        version: 1,
+                      },
+                      {
+                        detail: 0,
+                        format: 1,
+                        mode: 'normal',
+                        style: '',
+                        text: 'bold',
+                        type: 'text',
+                        version: 1,
+                      },
+                      {
+                        detail: 0,
+                        format: 0,
+                        mode: 'normal',
+                        style: '',
+                        text: ' *normal*',
+                        type: 'text',
+                        version: 1,
+                      },
+                    ],
+                    fields: {
+                      linkType: 'custom',
+                      newTab: false,
+                      url: '/some/link',
+                    },
+                    format: '',
+                    indent: 0,
+                    type: 'link',
+                    version: 3,
+                  },
+                ],
+                direction: null,
+                format: '',
+                indent: 0,
+                textFormat: 0,
+                textStyle: '',
+                type: 'paragraph',
+                version: 1,
+              },
+            ],
+            direction: null,
+            format: '',
+            indent: 0,
+            type: 'root',
+            version: 1,
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    },
+  },
   {
     inputAfterConvertFromEditorJSON: `
 <Banner>