diff --git a/tests/writer.docbook b/tests/writer.docbook
index 616273ea2..1c5965cb3 100644
--- a/tests/writer.docbook
+++ b/tests/writer.docbook
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
   </articleinfo>
   <para>
     This is a set of tests for pandoc. Most of them are adapted from
-    John Gruber&apos;s markdown test suite.
+    John Gruber's markdown test suite.
   </para>
   <section>
     <title>Headers</title>
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
   <section>
     <title>Paragraphs</title>
     <para>
-      Here&apos;s a regular paragraph.
+      Here's a regular paragraph.
     </para>
     <para>
       In Markdown 1.0.0 and earlier. Version 8. This line turns into a
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
       looked like a list item.
     </para>
     <para>
-      Here&apos;s one with a bullet. * criminey.
+      Here's one with a bullet. * criminey.
     </para>
     <para>
       There should be a hard line
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ sub status {
       </orderedlist>
     </blockquote>
     <para>
-      Here&apos;s a nested one:
+      Here's a nested one:
     </para>
     <blockquote>
       <para>
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ sub status {
       </para>
       <blockquote>
         <para>
-          Don&apos;t quote me.
+          Don't quote me.
         </para>
       </blockquote>
     </blockquote>
@@ -407,8 +407,8 @@ These should not be escaped:  \$ \\ \&gt; \[ \{
             Item 1, graf one.
           </para>
           <para>
-            Item 1. graf two. The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy
-            dog&apos;s back.
+            Item 1. graf two. The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's
+            back.
           </para>
         </listitem>
         <listitem>
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ These should not be escaped:  \$ \\ \&gt; \[ \{
         </listitem>
       </itemizedlist>
       <para>
-        Here&apos;s another:
+        Here's another:
       </para>
       <orderedlist>
         <listitem>
@@ -598,20 +598,20 @@ These should not be escaped:  \$ \\ \&gt; \[ \{
     </para>
     <para>
       <quote>He said, <quote>I want to go.</quote></quote> Were you alive
-      in the 70&apos;s?
+      in the 70's?
     </para>
     <para>
       Here is some quoted <quote><literal>code</literal></quote> and a
       <quote><ulink url="http://example.com/?foo=1&amp;bar=2">quoted link</ulink></quote>.
     </para>
     <para>
-      Some dashes: one&mdash;two&mdash;three&mdash;four&mdash;five.
+      Some dashes: one&#8212;two&#8212;three&#8212;four&#8212;five.
     </para>
     <para>
-      Dashes between numbers: 5&ndash;7, 255&ndash;66, 1987&ndash;1999.
+      Dashes between numbers: 5&#8211;7, 255&#8211;66, 1987&#8211;1999.
     </para>
     <para>
-      Ellipses&hellip;and&hellip;and&hellip;.
+      Ellipses&#8230;and&#8230;and&#8230;.
     </para>
   </section>
   <section>
@@ -659,13 +659,13 @@ These should not be escaped:  \$ \\ \&gt; \[ \{
       </listitem>
       <listitem>
         <para>
-          Here&apos;s one that has a line break in it:
+          Here's one that has a line break in it:
           <literal>$\alpha + \omega \times x^2$</literal>.
         </para>
       </listitem>
     </itemizedlist>
     <para>
-      These shouldn&apos;t be math:
+      These shouldn't be math:
     </para>
     <itemizedlist>
       <listitem>
@@ -687,7 +687,7 @@ These should not be escaped:  \$ \\ \&gt; \[ \{
       </listitem>
     </itemizedlist>
     <para>
-      Here&apos;s a LaTeX table:
+      Here's a LaTeX table:
     </para>
     <para>
       <literal>\begin{tabular}{|l|l|}\hline
@@ -867,19 +867,18 @@ Cat    &amp; 1      \\ \hline
     <section>
       <title>With ampersands</title>
       <para>
-        Here&apos;s a
+        Here's a
         <ulink url="http://example.com/?foo=1&amp;bar=2">link with an ampersand in the URL</ulink>.
       </para>
       <para>
-        Here&apos;s a link with an amersand in the link text:
+        Here's a link with an amersand in the link text:
         <ulink url="http://att.com/">AT&amp;T</ulink>.
       </para>
       <para>
-        Here&apos;s an
-        <ulink url="/script?foo=1&amp;bar=2">inline link</ulink>.
+        Here's an <ulink url="/script?foo=1&amp;bar=2">inline link</ulink>.
       </para>
       <para>
-        Here&apos;s an
+        Here's an
         <ulink url="/script?foo=1&amp;bar=2">inline link in pointy braces</ulink>.
       </para>
     </section>
@@ -964,7 +963,7 @@ or here: &lt;http://example.com/&gt;
       and
       another.<footnote>
                 <para>
-                  Here&apos;s the long note. This one contains multiple blocks.
+                  Here's the long note. This one contains multiple blocks.
                 </para>
                 <para>
                   Subsequent blocks are indented to show that they belong to the