diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index cabaeb1f..2c528404 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 - [pull #734] Fix empty list items being parsed as nested lists (#167)
 - [pull #735] Fix `smarty-pants` extra converting quotes inside inline HTML tags and comments (#150)
 - [pull #737] Fix XSS from code spans that the span gamut doesn't treat as code spans in safe mode (#726)
+- [pull #738] Fix `<` in code blocks being escaped twice in safe mode (#240)
 
 
 ## python-markdown2 2.5.5
diff --git a/lib/markdown2.py b/lib/markdown2.py
index 18419ef0..aa767426 100755
--- a/lib/markdown2.py
+++ b/lib/markdown2.py
@@ -1677,7 +1677,7 @@ def header_id_from_text(self,
             None to not have an id attribute and to exclude this header from
             the TOC (if the "toc" extra is specified).
         """
-        header_id = _slugify(html.unescape(text))
+        header_id = _slugify(html.unescape(self._unescape_special_chars(text)))
         if prefix and isinstance(prefix, str):
             header_id = prefix + '-' + header_id
 
@@ -2335,10 +2335,13 @@ def _encode_incomplete_tags(self, text: str) -> str:
 
         def incomplete_tags_sub(match):
             text = match.group()
+            # hash the `&lt;` so that code blocks don't escape it a second time
+            lt_hash = self._hash_span('&lt;')
+            self._code_table['&lt;'] = lt_hash
             # ensure that we handle escaped incomplete tags properly by consuming and replacing the escapes
             if not self._is_unescaped_re.match(text):
-                text = text.replace('\\<', '&lt;')
-            return text.replace('<', '&lt;')
+                text = text.replace('\\<', lt_hash)
+            return text.replace('<', lt_hash)
 
         text = self._incomplete_tags_re.sub(incomplete_tags_sub, text)
 
diff --git a/test/tm-cases/safe_mode_incomplete_tags_in_code_blocks.html b/test/tm-cases/safe_mode_incomplete_tags_in_code_blocks.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ac0e08aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tm-cases/safe_mode_incomplete_tags_in_code_blocks.html
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+<h1 id="comparing-ab">Comparing a&lt;b</h1>
+
+<p>Start of test.</p>
+
+<pre><code>for (i=0; i&lt;3; i++) {
+    printf("Hello, world.");
+}
+</code></pre>
+
+<blockquote>
+  <p>This is a quote</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<pre><code>if (a&lt;b &amp;&amp; b&lt;c) {}
+</code></pre>
+
+<ul>
+<li><p>list item</p>
+
+<pre><code>x&lt;y
+</code></pre></li>
+</ul>
+
+<p>These are still escaped: a&lt;b and &lt;c</p>
+
+<pre><code>Literal entity: &amp;lt;div
+</code></pre>
diff --git a/test/tm-cases/safe_mode_incomplete_tags_in_code_blocks.opts b/test/tm-cases/safe_mode_incomplete_tags_in_code_blocks.opts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..998d391b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tm-cases/safe_mode_incomplete_tags_in_code_blocks.opts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{'safe_mode': 'escape', 'extras': ['fenced-code-blocks', 'header-ids']}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/tm-cases/safe_mode_incomplete_tags_in_code_blocks.text b/test/tm-cases/safe_mode_incomplete_tags_in_code_blocks.text
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1f26a623
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tm-cases/safe_mode_incomplete_tags_in_code_blocks.text
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# Comparing a<b
+
+Start of test.
+
+    for (i=0; i<3; i++) {
+        printf("Hello, world.");
+    }
+
+> This is a quote
+
+```
+if (a<b && b<c) {}
+```
+
+- list item
+
+        x<y
+
+These are still escaped: a<b and <c
+
+    Literal entity: &lt;div