diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/markdown.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/markdown.js
index 66b2a7ea97d..13a5b80bbd2 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/markdown.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/markdown.js
@@ -260,4 +260,7 @@ Discourse.Markdown.whiteListTag('span', 'bbcode-i');
 Discourse.Markdown.whiteListTag('span', 'bbcode-u');
 Discourse.Markdown.whiteListTag('span', 'bbcode-s');
 
+// used for pinned topics
+Discourse.Markdown.whiteListTag('span', 'class', 'excerpt');
+
 Discourse.Markdown.whiteListIframe(/^(https?:)?\/\/www\.google\.com\/maps\/embed\?.+/i);
diff --git a/lib/excerpt_parser.rb b/lib/excerpt_parser.rb
index dbbafc33386..9afa2f2d991 100644
--- a/lib/excerpt_parser.rb
+++ b/lib/excerpt_parser.rb
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ class ExcerptParser < Nokogiri::XML::SAX::Document
     @strip_links = options[:strip_links] == true
     @text_entities = options[:text_entities] == true
     @markdown_images = options[:markdown_images] == true
+    @start_excerpt = false
   end
 
   def self.get_excerpt(html, length, options)
@@ -54,8 +55,11 @@ class ExcerptParser < Nokogiri::XML::SAX::Document
         @in_quote = true
 
       when "div", "span"
+        if attributes.include?(["class", "excerpt"])
+          @start_excerpt = true
+        end
         # Preserve spoilers
-        if attributes.any? {|x| x == ["class", "spoiler"] }
+        if attributes.include?(["class", "spoiler"])
           include_tag("span", attributes)
           @in_spoiler = true
         end
@@ -74,6 +78,7 @@ class ExcerptParser < Nokogiri::XML::SAX::Document
     when "aside"
       @in_quote = false
     when "div", "span"
+      throw :done if @start_excerpt
       characters("</span>", false, false, false) if @in_spoiler
       @in_spoiler = false
     end
diff --git a/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb b/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb
index f55219b75c7..add42031657 100644
--- a/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb
@@ -181,6 +181,12 @@ describe PrettyText do
       PrettyText.excerpt(nil,100).should == ''
     end
 
+    it "handles span excerpt" do
+      PrettyText.excerpt("<span class='excerpt'>hi</span> test",100).should == 'hi'
+      post = Fabricate(:post, raw: "<span class='excerpt'>hi</span> test")
+      post.excerpt.should == "hi"
+    end
+
   end
 
   describe "strip links" do