diff --git a/src/Message.php b/src/Message.php
index 0282dc60cf..a531629e57 100644
--- a/src/Message.php
+++ b/src/Message.php
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@ class Message implements Stringable
      */
     public static function decodeBB(string $message): string
     {
-        return Sanitize::sanitizeMessage($message, false, true);
+        return Sanitize::sanitizeMessage($message, true);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/Sanitize.php b/src/Sanitize.php
index f110bf90f0..40f8f8ed2e 100644
--- a/src/Sanitize.php
+++ b/src/Sanitize.php
@@ -165,10 +165,9 @@ class Sanitize
      * <a title="<?php echo Sanitize::sanitizeMessage($foo, true); ?>">bar</a>
      *
      * @param string $message the message
-     * @param bool   $escape  whether to escape html in result
      * @param bool   $safe    whether string is safe (can keep < and > chars)
      */
-    public static function sanitizeMessage(string $message, bool $escape = false, bool $safe = false): string
+    public static function sanitizeMessage(string $message, bool $safe = false): string
     {
         if (! $safe) {
             $message = strtr($message, ['<' => '&lt;', '>' => '&gt;']);
@@ -220,11 +219,6 @@ class Sanitize
             $message,
         );
 
-        /* Possibly escape result */
-        if ($escape) {
-            return htmlspecialchars($message);
-        }
-
         return $message;
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/classes/SanitizeTest.php b/tests/classes/SanitizeTest.php
index be782d3bdf..59f17a3926 100644
--- a/tests/classes/SanitizeTest.php
+++ b/tests/classes/SanitizeTest.php
@@ -139,17 +139,6 @@ class SanitizeTest extends AbstractTestCase
         );
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Tests output escaping.
-     */
-    public function testEscape(): void
-    {
-        $this->assertEquals(
-            '&lt;strong&gt;strong&lt;/strong&gt;',
-            Sanitize::sanitizeMessage('[strong]strong[/strong]', true),
-        );
-    }
-
     /**
      * Test for Sanitize::sanitizeFilename
      */