diff --git a/src/Filters/Html/HtmlParser.php b/src/Filters/Html/HtmlParser.php
index 287baa1..18cd9e7 100644
--- a/src/Filters/Html/HtmlParser.php
+++ b/src/Filters/Html/HtmlParser.php
@@ -179,6 +179,37 @@ public function transform( $segment ) {
                         break;
 
                     default:
+
+                        // Check the last char
+                        if($idx === (count($originalSplit)-1)){
+
+                            $html_buffer .= $char;
+
+                            //
+                            // *************************************
+                            // NOTE 2021-06-16
+                            // *************************************
+                            //
+                            // Check if $html_buffer is valid. If not, then
+                            // convert it to $plain_text_buffer.
+                            //
+                            // Example:
+                            //
+                            // $html_buffer = '<3 %}'
+                            //
+                            // is not a valid tag, so it's converted to $plain_text_buffer
+                            //
+                            if(!$this->_isTagValid( $html_buffer )){
+                                $state = static::STATE_PLAINTEXT; // but we work in XML text, so encode it
+                                $plain_text_buffer .= $this->_fixWrongBuffer( $html_buffer );
+                                $html_buffer = '';
+
+                                break;
+                            }
+
+                            break;
+                        }
+
                         $html_buffer .= $char;
                         break;
                 }
@@ -245,5 +276,4 @@ public function transform( $segment ) {
         return $output;
 
     }
-
 }
diff --git a/tests/MateCatSubFilteringTest.php b/tests/MateCatSubFilteringTest.php
index ab33fe9..8478bd8 100644
--- a/tests/MateCatSubFilteringTest.php
+++ b/tests/MateCatSubFilteringTest.php
@@ -269,6 +269,26 @@ public function testTwigFilterWithLessThan()
         $this->assertEquals($db_segment, $back_to_db);
     }
 
+    public function testTwigFilterWithLessThanAttachedToANumber()
+    {
+        // less than %lt;
+        $Filter = MateCatFilter::getInstance( new FeatureSet(), 'en-EN','et-ET', [] );
+
+        $db_segment  = '{% if count &lt;3 %}';
+        $expected_l1_segment = '<ph id="mtc_1" equiv-text="base64:eyUgaWYgY291bnQgJmx0OzMgJX0="/>';
+        $expected_l2_segment = '&lt;ph id="mtc_1" equiv-text="base64:eyUgaWYgY291bnQgJmx0OzMgJX0="/&gt;';
+
+        $l1_segment     = $Filter->fromLayer0ToLayer1( $db_segment );
+        $l2_segment     = $Filter->fromLayer1ToLayer2( $l1_segment );
+
+        $this->assertEquals($l1_segment, $expected_l1_segment);
+        $this->assertEquals($l2_segment, $expected_l2_segment);
+
+        $back_to_db = $Filter->fromLayer1ToLayer0($expected_l1_segment);
+
+        $this->assertEquals($db_segment, $back_to_db);
+    }
+
     public function testTwigFilterWithGreaterThan()
     {
         // less than %gt;