diff --git a/src/components/catalog-row/__tests__/catalog-row.test.tsx b/src/components/catalog-row/__tests__/catalog-row.test.tsx
index 95483eb1..7be84b53 100644
--- a/src/components/catalog-row/__tests__/catalog-row.test.tsx
+++ b/src/components/catalog-row/__tests__/catalog-row.test.tsx
@@ -480,6 +480,22 @@ describe('CatalogRow', () => {
     expect(container.textContent).toContain('Text title: Plain thread body');
   });
 
+  it('preserves literal catalog teaser markers without applying body markdown styles', async () => {
+    const post: TestComment = {
+      cid: 'literal-markers',
+      content: '>we got 5chan before Half Life 3\n*poisons u*',
+      replyCount: 2,
+      communityAddress: 'music-posting.eth',
+    };
+
+    await renderWithRouter(createElement(CatalogRow, { row: [post] }), '/mu/catalog');
+
+    expect(container.textContent).toContain('>we got 5chan before Half Life 3');
+    expect(container.textContent).toContain('*poisons u*');
+    expect(container.querySelector('.greentext')).toBeNull();
+    expect(container.querySelector('.spoilertext')).toBeNull();
+  });
+
   it('applies the estimated row height to the virtualization wrapper', async () => {
     const post: TestComment = {
       cid: 'estimated-post',
diff --git a/src/components/catalog-row/catalog-row.tsx b/src/components/catalog-row/catalog-row.tsx
index f2a13dce..60886ced 100644
--- a/src/components/catalog-row/catalog-row.tsx
+++ b/src/components/catalog-row/catalog-row.tsx
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import useCountLinksInReplies from '../../hooks/use-count-links-in-replies';
 import useFetchGifFirstFrame from '../../hooks/use-fetch-gif-first-frame';
 import useHide from '../../hooks/use-hide';
 import { isCommentArchived } from '../../lib/utils/comment-moderation-utils';
-import { removeMarkdown } from '../../lib/utils/post-utils';
+import { CATALOG_PREVIEW_MARKDOWN_OPTIONS, removeMarkdown } from '../../lib/utils/post-utils';
 import PostMenuDesktop from '../post-desktop/post-menu-desktop';
 import styles from './catalog-row.module.css';
 import capitalize from 'lodash/capitalize';
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ const CatalogPost = memo(
                 {content ? ': ' : ''}
               </span>
             )}
-            {content && removeMarkdown(content)}
+            {content && removeMarkdown(content, CATALOG_PREVIEW_MARKDOWN_OPTIONS)}
           </>
         )}
       </div>
diff --git a/src/lib/utils/__tests__/misc-utils.test.ts b/src/lib/utils/__tests__/misc-utils.test.ts
index 89e5b0c9..458ef6cf 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils/__tests__/misc-utils.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/utils/__tests__/misc-utils.test.ts
@@ -105,6 +105,9 @@ describe('misc utils', () => {
     expect(removeMarkdown('[spoiler]secret[/spoiler]\n>greentext\n**bold** [label](https://example.com) `code` ```block``` &nbsp;')).toBe(
       'secret\ngreentext\nbold label code block',
     );
+    expect(removeMarkdown('>greentext\n*poisons u* _and underlines_', { preserveEmphasisMarkers: true, preserveGreentextMarkers: true })).toBe(
+      '>greentext\n*poisons u* _and underlines_',
+    );
   });
 
   it('preloads theme asset URLs through Image instances', () => {
diff --git a/src/lib/utils/post-utils.ts b/src/lib/utils/post-utils.ts
index d75b7c84..e0b13772 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils/post-utils.ts
+++ b/src/lib/utils/post-utils.ts
@@ -21,13 +21,31 @@ export function getTextColorForBackground(rgb: string): string {
   return brightness > 125 ? 'black' : 'white';
 }
 
-export function removeMarkdown(md: string): string {
-  return md
+export interface RemoveMarkdownOptions {
+  preserveEmphasisMarkers?: boolean;
+  preserveGreentextMarkers?: boolean;
+}
+
+export const CATALOG_PREVIEW_MARKDOWN_OPTIONS: RemoveMarkdownOptions = {
+  preserveEmphasisMarkers: true,
+  preserveGreentextMarkers: true,
+};
+
+export function removeMarkdown(md: string, options: RemoveMarkdownOptions = {}): string {
+  let withoutMarkdown = md
     .replace(/\[spoiler\](.*?)\[\/spoiler\]/gis, '$1') // spoiler tags - keep inner text
     .replace(/\[([^\]]*?)\]\([^)]*\)/g, '$1') // [text](url) -> text
-    .replace(/&nbsp;/g, ' ') // &nbsp; -> space
-    .replace(/^>\s*/gm, '') // greentext at line start
-    .replace(/[*_]/g, '') // bold/italic markers
+    .replace(/&nbsp;/g, ' '); // &nbsp; -> space
+
+  if (!options.preserveGreentextMarkers) {
+    withoutMarkdown = withoutMarkdown.replace(/^>\s*/gm, ''); // greentext at line start
+  }
+
+  if (!options.preserveEmphasisMarkers) {
+    withoutMarkdown = withoutMarkdown.replace(/[*_]/g, ''); // bold/italic markers
+  }
+
+  return withoutMarkdown
     .replace(/```[\s\S]*?```/g, (m) => m.slice(3, -3)) // code blocks - keep content
     .replace(/`([^`]*)`/g, '$1') // inline code - keep content
     .trim();
diff --git a/src/lib/utils/pretext-height-estimates.ts b/src/lib/utils/pretext-height-estimates.ts
index 35c1efbb..bc39e0c6 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils/pretext-height-estimates.ts
+++ b/src/lib/utils/pretext-height-estimates.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import type { Comment } from '@bitsocial/bitsocial-react-hooks';
 import { layout, layoutNextLine, prepare, prepareWithSegments } from '@chenglou/pretext';
 import { getCommentMediaInfo, getHasThumbnail } from './media-utils';
 import { EXPANDED_MEDIA_DATA_ATTRIBUTE } from './measurement-attributes';
-import { removeMarkdown } from './post-utils';
+import { CATALOG_PREVIEW_MARKDOWN_OPTIONS, removeMarkdown, type RemoveMarkdownOptions } from './post-utils';
 import { getRenderableMobileBacklinks } from './reply-backlink-utils';
 
 export type ReplyVirtualizationMode = 'off' | 'estimates' | 'item-size';
@@ -393,8 +393,8 @@ const getCatalogPostMediaHeight = (post: Comment | undefined, imageSize: Catalog
   return mediaBox ? mediaBox.height + CATALOG_CARD_MEDIA_GAP_HEIGHT : 0;
 };
 
-const normalizeRenderedCommentText = (rawContent: string): string =>
-  removeMarkdown(rawContent)
+const normalizeRenderedCommentText = (rawContent: string, markdownOptions?: RemoveMarkdownOptions): string =>
+  removeMarkdown(rawContent, markdownOptions)
     .replace(/\n&nbsp;\n/g, '\n\n')
     .replace(/\n{3,}/g, '\n\n')
     .split('\n')
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ const normalizeRenderedCommentText = (rawContent: string): string =>
     .join('\n')
     .trim();
 
-const getVisibleCommentBodyText = (comment: Comment | undefined, maxContentChars: number): string => {
+const getVisibleCommentBodyText = (comment: Comment | undefined, maxContentChars: number, markdownOptions?: RemoveMarkdownOptions): string => {
   if (!comment) {
     return '';
   }
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ const getVisibleCommentBodyText = (comment: Comment | undefined, maxContentChars
   const removed = comment.removed;
   const reason = comment.reason?.trim();
   const rawContent = comment.content || '';
-  const content = normalizeRenderedCommentText(rawContent.slice(0, maxContentChars));
+  const content = normalizeRenderedCommentText(rawContent.slice(0, maxContentChars), markdownOptions);
 
   if (purged) {
     return 'This post was purged';
@@ -433,13 +433,13 @@ const getVisibleCommentBodyText = (comment: Comment | undefined, maxContentChars
   return content;
 };
 
-const getVisibleCommentText = (comment: Comment | undefined, maxContentChars: number): string => {
+const getVisibleCommentText = (comment: Comment | undefined, maxContentChars: number, markdownOptions?: RemoveMarkdownOptions): string => {
   if (!comment) {
     return '';
   }
 
   const title = comment.title?.trim();
-  const content = getVisibleCommentBodyText(comment, maxContentChars);
+  const content = getVisibleCommentBodyText(comment, maxContentChars, markdownOptions);
 
   if (title && content) {
     return `${title}: ${content}`;
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ const getVisibleCatalogText = (post: Comment | undefined, showOPComment: boolean
     return '';
   }
 
-  return getVisibleCommentText(post, 1600);
+  return getVisibleCommentText(post, 1600, CATALOG_PREVIEW_MARKDOWN_OPTIONS);
 };
 
 const getMobileBacklinkCount = (reply: Comment, backlinkMaps: ReplyBacklinkMaps): number => {