diff --git a/src/mathed/InsetMathBig.cpp b/src/mathed/InsetMathBig.cpp
index 969dd472c7..293ff8b80d 100644
--- a/src/mathed/InsetMathBig.cpp
+++ b/src/mathed/InsetMathBig.cpp
@@ -107,48 +107,9 @@ void InsetMathBig::normalize(NormalStream & os) const
 
 void InsetMathBig::mathmlize(MathStream & os) const
 {
-	os << "<mo form='prefix' fence='true' stretchy='true' symmetric='true'>";
-	if (delim_ == "(" || delim_ == ")"
-			|| delim_ == "[" || delim_ == "]"
-			|| delim_ == "|" || delim_ == "/")
-		os << delim_;
-	else if (delim_ == "\\{" || delim_ == "\\lbrace")
-		os << "{";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\}" || delim_ == "\\rbrace")
-		os << "}";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\slash")
-		os << "/";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\|" || delim_ == "\\vert")
-		os << "|";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\Vert")
-		os << "&par;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\\\" || delim_ == "\\backslash")
-		os <<" \\";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\langle")
-		os << "&lt;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\rangle")
-		os << "&gt;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\lceil")
-		os << "&lceil;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\rceil")
-		os << "&rceil;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\lfloor")
-		os << "&lfloor;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\rfloor")
-		os << "&rfloor;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\downarrow")
-		os << "&darr;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\uparrow")
-		os << "&uarr;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\Downarrow")
-		os << "&dArr;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\Uparrow")
-		os << "&uArr;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\updownarrow")
-		os << "&varr;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\Updownarrow")
-		os << "&vArr;";
-	os << "</mo>";
+	os << "<mo form='prefix' fence='true' stretchy='true' symmetric='true'>"
+	   << convertDelimToXMLEscape(delim_)
+	   << "</mo>";
 }
 
 
@@ -161,48 +122,9 @@ void InsetMathBig::htmlize(HtmlStream & os) const
 	case 4: case 5: name = "biggg"; break;
 	default: name  = "big"; break;
 	}
-	os << MTag("span", "class='" + name + "symbol'");
-	if (delim_ == "(" || delim_ == ")"
-			|| delim_ == "[" || delim_ == "]"
-			|| delim_ == "|" || delim_ == "/")
-		os << delim_;
-	else if (delim_ == "\\{" || delim_ == "\\lbrace")
-		os << "{";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\}" || delim_ == "\\rbrace")
-		os << "}";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\slash")
-		os << "/";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\|" || delim_ == "\\vert")
-		os << "|";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\Vert")
-		os << "&par;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\\\" || delim_ == "\\backslash")
-		os <<" \\";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\langle")
-		os << "&lt;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\rangle")
-		os << "&gt;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\lceil")
-		os << "&lceil;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\rceil")
-		os << "&rceil;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\lfloor")
-		os << "&lfloor;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\rfloor")
-		os << "&rfloor;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\downarrow")
-		os << "&darr;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\uparrow")
-		os << "&uarr;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\Downarrow")
-		os << "&dArr;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\Uparrow")
-		os << "&uArr;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\updownarrow")
-		os << "&varr;";
-	else if (delim_ == "\\Updownarrow")
-		os << "&vArr;";
-	os << ETag("span");
+	os << MTag("span", "class='" + name + "symbol'")
+	   << convertDelimToXMLEscape(delim_)
+	   << ETag("span");
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/mathed/InsetMathDelim.cpp b/src/mathed/InsetMathDelim.cpp
index 8e8b6e295b..b8adb1d812 100644
--- a/src/mathed/InsetMathDelim.cpp
+++ b/src/mathed/InsetMathDelim.cpp
@@ -192,14 +192,21 @@ void InsetMathDelim::mathematica(MathematicaStream & os) const
 
 void InsetMathDelim::mathmlize(MathStream & os) const
 {
-	os << "<mo form='prefix' fence='true' stretchy='true' symmetric='true'>" << left_ << "</mo>"
-		<< cell(0) << "<mo form='postfix' fence='true' stretchy='true' symmetric='true'>" << right_ << "</mo>";
+	os << "<mo form='prefix' fence='true' stretchy='true' symmetric='true'>"
+	   << convertDelimToXMLEscape(left_) 
+	   << "</mo>\n"
+	   << cell(0) 
+	   << "\n<mo form='postfix' fence='true' stretchy='true' symmetric='true'>" 
+	   << convertDelimToXMLEscape(right_) 
+	   << "</mo>\n";
 }
 
 
 void InsetMathDelim::htmlize(HtmlStream & os) const
 {
-	os << left_ << cell(0) << right_;
+	os << convertDelimToXMLEscape(left_) 
+	   << cell(0) 
+	   << convertDelimToXMLEscape(right_);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/mathed/MathStream.cpp b/src/mathed/MathStream.cpp
index dabfc0680f..ab2dcc7435 100644
--- a/src/mathed/MathStream.cpp
+++ b/src/mathed/MathStream.cpp
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 #include "MathStream.h"
 
+#include "MathFactory.h"
 #include "MathData.h"
 #include "MathExtern.h"
 
@@ -710,4 +711,25 @@ OctaveStream & operator<<(OctaveStream & os, string const & s)
 }
 
 
+docstring convertDelimToXMLEscape(docstring const & name)
+{
+	if (name.size() == 1) {
+		char_type const c = name[0];
+		if (c == '<')
+			return from_ascii("&lt;");
+		else if (c == '>')
+			return from_ascii("&gt;");
+		else
+			return name;
+	}
+	MathWordList const & words = mathedWordList();
+	MathWordList::const_iterator it = words.find(name);
+	if (it != words.end()) {
+		docstring const escape = it->second.xmlname;
+		return escape;
+	}
+	LYXERR0("Unable to find `" << name <<"' in the mathWordList.");
+	return name;
+}
+
 } // namespace lyx
diff --git a/src/mathed/MathStream.h b/src/mathed/MathStream.h
index 6cfd5855ec..f9a20112c5 100644
--- a/src/mathed/MathStream.h
+++ b/src/mathed/MathStream.h
@@ -589,6 +589,9 @@ OctaveStream & operator<<(OctaveStream &, char);
 ///
 OctaveStream & operator<<(OctaveStream &, int);
 
+
+docstring convertDelimToXMLEscape(docstring const & name);
+
 } // namespace lyx
 
 #endif
diff --git a/status.22x b/status.22x
index 3bb7c3c996..a23d38815c 100644
--- a/status.22x
+++ b/status.22x
@@ -171,6 +171,8 @@ What's new
 
 - Fix output of vertical space in the middle of a paragraph (bug 8154).
 
+- Output correct entities for named delimiters (bug 8280).
+
 
 * TEX2LYX