diff --git a/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt b/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
index ddb839f08..2ef654eec 100644
--- a/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
+++ b/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 7.10.22
  - rfe #12207: Thingy. Field_name info returned by www_editThingDataSaveViaAjax
  - fixed #12206: Bad Subscription Groups in Duplicated Threads
+ - fixed #12208: replacements don't work
 
 7.10.21
  - added #9668 extension template variable to attachment loops for the following assets:
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/HTML.pm b/lib/WebGUI/HTML.pm
index 299ffa7ea..75eb10c6d 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/HTML.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/HTML.pm
@@ -397,7 +397,11 @@ sub processReplacements {
 	}
     foreach my $searchFor (keys %{$replacements}) {
         my $replaceWith = $replacements->{$searchFor};
-        $content =~ s/\b\Q$searchFor\E\b/$replaceWith/gs;
+        my $pattern = qr/\Q$searchFor\E/;
+        if ($searchFor =~ /^\w+/) {
+            $pattern = qr/\b$pattern\b/;
+        }
+        $content =~ s/$pattern/$replaceWith/gs;
     }
 	return $content;
 }
diff --git a/t/HTML.t b/t/HTML.t
index 41500943c..bff61c4eb 100644
--- a/t/HTML.t
+++ b/t/HTML.t
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ my @filterSets = (
 	},
 	{
 		inputText => q!<p>Paragraph</p>^H();!,
-		output => q!Paragraph &#94;H();!,
+		output => q|Paragraph &#94;H();|,
 		type => 'all',
 		comment => 'all filters macros and HTML',
 	},
@@ -83,12 +83,12 @@ my @filterSets = (
 	},
 	{
 		inputText => q!&nbsp;!,
-		output => q!&#x26;nbsp;!,
+		output => q|&#x26;nbsp;|,
 		type => 'xml',
 		comment => 'xml, &nbsp;',
 	},
 	{
-		inputText => q!> < "!,
+		inputText => q|> < "|,
 		output => q!&#x3E; &#x3C; &#x22;!,
 		type => 'xml',
 		comment => 'xml, other characters',
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ my @htmlTextSets = (
 my $numTests = scalar @filterSets
              + scalar @macroParamSets
              + scalar @htmlTextSets
-             + 3
+             + 6
              ;
 
 plan tests => $numTests;
@@ -149,6 +149,31 @@ foreach my $testSet (@htmlTextSets) {
 	is($text, $testSet->{output}, $testSet->{comment});
 }
 
+my @replacement_ids = ();
+push @replacement_ids, $session->db->setRow("replacements","replacementId",{
+    replacementId=>'new',
+    searchFor=>':)',
+    replaceWith=>'smiley.gif',
+});
+push @replacement_ids, $session->db->setRow("replacements","replacementId",{
+    replacementId=>'new',
+    searchFor=>'[]',
+    replaceWith=>'square brackets',
+});
+push @replacement_ids, $session->db->setRow("replacements","replacementId",{
+    replacementId=>'new',
+    searchFor=>'[IMAG]',
+    replaceWith=>'IMAGE',
+});
+WebGUI::Test->addToCleanup(sub {
+    foreach my $id (@replacement_ids) {
+        $session->db->write('delete from replacements where replacementId=?',[$id]);
+    }
+});
+
 is(WebGUI::HTML::processReplacements($session, 'grass'), 'grass', 'processReplacements: grass is not replaced');
 is(WebGUI::HTML::processReplacements($session, 'shitake'), 'shitake', '... shitake is not replaced');
 is(WebGUI::HTML::processReplacements($session, 'This is shit.'), 'This is crap.', '... shit is replaced');
+is(WebGUI::HTML::processReplacements($session, ':)'), 'smiley.gif', '... unbalanced paren is replaced');
+is(WebGUI::HTML::processReplacements($session, '[]'), 'square brackets', '... square brackets are replaced');
+is(WebGUI::HTML::processReplacements($session, '[IMAG]'), 'IMAGE', '... image sequence processed');