diff --git a/public/lib/moodlelib.php b/public/lib/moodlelib.php
index b528e9543b0..820df57993f 100644
--- a/public/lib/moodlelib.php
+++ b/public/lib/moodlelib.php
@@ -912,7 +912,7 @@ function get_host_from_url($url) {
* images, objects, etc.
*/
function html_is_blank($string) {
- return trim(strip_tags((string)$string, '![]()