diff --git a/IkiWiki/Plugin/typography.pm b/IkiWiki/Plugin/typography.pm
index 8ae1f3445..4c486d4b4 100644
--- a/IkiWiki/Plugin/typography.pm
+++ b/IkiWiki/Plugin/typography.pm
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ sub sanitize (@) { #{{{
 	my %params=@_;
 
 	eval q{use Text::Typography};
-	error($@) if $@;
+	return $params{content} if $@;
 
 	my $attributes=defined $config{typographyattributes} ? $config{typographyattributes} : '3';
 	return Text::Typography::typography($params{content}, $attributes);