diff --git a/lib/textile/parser_helpers.ex b/lib/textile/parser_helpers.ex
index e49d11aa..bef206e6 100644
--- a/lib/textile/parser_helpers.ex
+++ b/lib/textile/parser_helpers.ex
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ defmodule Textile.ParserHelpers do
 
   def remove_linefeeds(text) do
     text
+    |> to_string()
     |> String.replace("\r", "")
   end
 
@@ -43,4 +44,4 @@ defmodule Textile.ParserHelpers do
   def escape_html(text) do
     html_escape(text) |> safe_to_string()
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end