diff --git a/system/helpers/form_helper.php b/system/helpers/form_helper.php
index fb23529..70c40a9 100644
--- a/system/helpers/form_helper.php
+++ b/system/helpers/form_helper.php
@@ -676,17 +676,19 @@
 	 *
 	 * @param	string	$field		Field name
 	 * @param	string	$default	Default value
+	 * @param	bool	$html_escape	Whether to escape HTML special characters or not
 	 * @return	string
 	 */
-	function set_value($field, $default = '')
+	function set_value($field, $default = '', $html_escape = TRUE)
 	{
 		$CI =& get_instance();
 
 		$value = (isset($CI->form_validation) && is_object($CI->form_validation) && $CI->form_validation->has_rule($field))
 			? $CI->form_validation->set_value($field, $default)
 			: $CI->input->post($field, FALSE);
-
-		return html_escape($value === NULL ? $default : $value);
+			
+		isset($value) OR $value = $default;
+		return ($html_escape) ? html_escape($value) : $value;
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst b/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
index a0c0de8..5c5cd5e 100644
--- a/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
+++ b/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@
 
       - :php:func:`form_dropdown()` will now also take an array for unity with other form helpers.
       - :php:func:`form_prep()` is now DEPRECATED and only acts as an alias for :doc:`common function <general/common_functions>` :php:func:`html_escape()`.
+      - :php:func:`set_value()` will now also accept a third argument, allowing to turn off HTML escaping of the value.
 
    -  :doc:`Security Helper <helpers/security_helper>` changes include:
 
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/helpers/form_helper.rst b/user_guide_src/source/helpers/form_helper.rst
index 15f5d78..362c9c3 100644
--- a/user_guide_src/source/helpers/form_helper.rst
+++ b/user_guide_src/source/helpers/form_helper.rst
@@ -581,7 +581,9 @@
 	Permits you to set the value of an input form or textarea. You must
 	supply the field name via the first parameter of the function. The
 	second (optional) parameter allows you to set a default value for the
-	form.
+	form. The third (optional) parameter allows you to turn off HTML escaping
+	of the value, in case you need to use this function in combination with
+	i.e. :php:func:`form_input()` and avoid double-escaping.
 
 	Example::
 
@@ -589,11 +591,7 @@
 
 	The above form will show "0" when loaded for the first time.
 
-	.. note:: Only use this function with raw HTML fields, as it
-		internally calls :php:func:`html_escape()` and combining its
-		usage with other form helper functions will result in
-		double HTML encoding!
-
+	
 .. php:function:: set_select($field[, $value = ''[, $default = FALSE]])
 
 	:param	string	$field: Field name
@@ -718,4 +716,4 @@
 
 	.. note:: This function is DEPRECATED and is just an alias for
 		:doc:`common function <../general/common_functions>`
-		:func:`html_escape()` - please use that instead.
\ No newline at end of file
+		:func:`html_escape()` - please use that instead.