diff --git a/openerp/tools/mail.py b/openerp/tools/mail.py
index 7ca9dd75bac..933c8927d2c 100644
--- a/openerp/tools/mail.py
+++ b/openerp/tools/mail.py
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ def html_sanitize(src):
     src = ustr(src, errors='replace')
 
     # html encode email tags
-    part = re.compile(r"(<[^<>]+@[^<>]+>)", re.IGNORECASE | re.DOTALL)
+    part = re.compile(r"(<(([^a<>]|a[^<>\s])[^<>]*)@[^<>]+>)", re.IGNORECASE | re.DOTALL)
     src = part.sub(lambda m: cgi.escape(m.group(1)), src)
     
     # some corner cases make the parser crash (such as <SCRIPT/XSS SRC=\"http://ha.ckers.org/xss.js\"></SCRIPT> in test_mail)