diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@
 `jira-wiki-markup` uses [PVP Versioning][1].
 The changelog is available [on GitHub][2].
 
+1.3.2
+-----
+
+Released 2020-06-22.
+
+* Braces are now always escaped when printing; Jira treats braces
+  specially, regardless of context.
+
 1.3.1
 -----
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,16 +1,21 @@
 # jira-wiki-markup
 
 [![Hackage](https://img.shields.io/hackage/v/jira-wiki-markup.svg)](https://hackage.haskell.org/package/jira-wiki-markup)
-[![MIT license](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue.svg)](LICENSE)
-[![Stackage Lts](http://stackage.org/package/jira-wiki-markup/badge/lts)](http://stackage.org/lts/package/jira-wiki-markup)
-[![Stackage Nightly](http://stackage.org/package/jira-wiki-markup/badge/nightly)](http://stackage.org/nightly/package/jira-wiki-markup)
-[![Build status](https://travis-ci.com/tarleb/jira-wiki-markup.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.com/tarleb/jira-wiki-markup)
-[![Windows build status](https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/github/tarleb/jira-wiki-markup?branch=master&svg=true)](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/tarleb/jira-wiki-markup)
+[![MIT license][License badge]](LICENSE)
+[![Stackage Lts][Stackage Lts badge]](http://stackage.org/lts/package/jira-wiki-markup)
+[![Stackage Nightly][Stackage Nightly badge]](http://stackage.org/nightly/package/jira-wiki-markup)
+[![Build status][Travis badge]](https://travis-ci.com/tarleb/jira-wiki-markup)
+[![Windows build status][AppVeyor badge]](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/tarleb/jira-wiki-markup)
 
 This package provides a parser and printer for [Jira wiki markup]. It
 converts the raw text into an abstract syntax tree. The tree is easy to
 handle and to translate into different output formats.
 
+[License badge]: https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue.svg
+[Stackage Lts badge]: http://stackage.org/package/jira-wiki-markup/badge/lts
+[Stackage Nightly badge]: http://stackage.org/package/jira-wiki-markup/badge/nightly
+[Travis badge]: https://travis-ci.com/tarleb/jira-wiki-markup.svg?branch=master
+[AppVeyor badge]: https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/github/tarleb/jira-wiki-markup?branch=master&svg=true
 [Jira wiki markup]: https://jira.atlassian.com/secure/WikiRendererHelpAction.jspa?section=all
 
 # License
diff --git a/jira-wiki-markup.cabal b/jira-wiki-markup.cabal
--- a/jira-wiki-markup.cabal
+++ b/jira-wiki-markup.cabal
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 cabal-version:       2.0
 name:                jira-wiki-markup
-version:             1.3.1
+version:             1.3.2
 synopsis:            Handle Jira wiki markup
 description:         Parse jira wiki text into an abstract syntax tree for easy
                      transformation to other formats.
diff --git a/src/Text/Jira/Printer.hs b/src/Text/Jira/Printer.hs
--- a/src/Text/Jira/Printer.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Jira/Printer.hs
@@ -50,11 +50,13 @@
     renderInline s <> renderStyledSafely style inlns <> prettyInlines rest
   Styled style inlns : s@(Str t) : rest | startsWithAlphaNum t ->
     renderStyledSafely style inlns <> renderInline s <> prettyInlines rest
-  s@Str{} : SpecialChar c : rest@(Str {}:_) ->
+  -- Most special chars don't need escaping when surrounded by spaces or within
+  -- a word. Braces are the exception, they should always be escaped.
+  s@Str{} : SpecialChar c : rest@(Str {}:_) | not (isBrace c) ->
     (renderInline s `T.snoc` c) <> prettyInlines rest
-  s@Space : SpecialChar c : rest@(Space {}:_) ->
+  s@Space : SpecialChar c : rest@(Space {}:_) | not (isBrace c) ->
     (renderInline s `T.snoc` c) <> prettyInlines rest
-  s@Linebreak : SpecialChar c : rest@(Space {}:_) ->
+  s@Linebreak : SpecialChar c : rest@(Space {}:_) | not (isBrace c) ->
     (renderInline s `T.snoc` c) <> prettyInlines rest
   -- Colon and semicolon only need escaping if they could otherwise
   -- become part of a smiley.
@@ -69,6 +71,11 @@
     renderInline x <> prettyInlines xs
 
   where
+    isBrace = \case
+      '{' -> True
+      '}' -> True
+      _   -> False
+
     startsWithAlphaNum t = case T.uncons t of
       Just (c, _) -> isAlphaNum c
       _           -> False
diff --git a/test/Text/Jira/PrinterTests.hs b/test/Text/Jira/PrinterTests.hs
--- a/test/Text/Jira/PrinterTests.hs
+++ b/test/Text/Jira/PrinterTests.hs
@@ -171,7 +171,11 @@
     ]
 
   , testGroup "combined inlines"
-    [ testCase "special char between words" $
+    [ testCase "opening brace between words" $
+      prettyInlines [Str "a", SpecialChar '{', Str "b"] @?=
+      "a\\{b"
+
+    , testCase "other special char between words" $
       prettyInlines [Str "easy", SpecialChar '-', Str "peasy"] @?=
       "easy-peasy"
 
@@ -199,6 +203,10 @@
     , testCase "colon is not escaped before space" $
       prettyInlines [SpecialChar ':', Space, Str "end"] @?=
       ": end"
+
+    , testCase "closing brace between spaces" $
+      prettyInlines [Space, SpecialChar '}', Space] @?=
+      " \\} "
 
     , testCase "colon not escaped before opening paren" $
       -- escaping the paren is enough