diff --git a/src/openforms/emails/tests/test_confirmation_email.py b/src/openforms/emails/tests/test_confirmation_email.py
index 34f18a53f0..c6f0028c0d 100644
--- a/src/openforms/emails/tests/test_confirmation_email.py
+++ b/src/openforms/emails/tests/test_confirmation_email.py
@@ -227,9 +227,7 @@ def test_attachment(self):
         self.assertTagWithTextIn("td", "Last name", rendered_content)
         self.assertTagWithTextIn("td", "Doe", rendered_content)
         self.assertTagWithTextIn("td", "File", rendered_content)
-        self.assertTagWithTextIn(
-            "td", _("attachment: %s") % "my-image.jpg", rendered_content
-        )
+        self.assertTagWithTextIn("td", "my-image.jpg", rendered_content)
 
     @patch(
         "openforms.emails.templatetags.appointments.get_plugin",
diff --git a/src/openforms/formio/formatters/formio.py b/src/openforms/formio/formatters/formio.py
index 4069e1e23f..b0b29b28a0 100644
--- a/src/openforms/formio/formatters/formio.py
+++ b/src/openforms/formio/formatters/formio.py
@@ -81,10 +81,14 @@ def normalise_value_to_list(self, component: Component, value: Any):
             return value
 
     def process_result(self, component: Component, formatted: str) -> str:
-        # prefix joined filenames to match legacy
-        if formatted:
+        if not formatted:
+            return ""
+
+        # Make sure we don't mangle safe-strings!
+        if self.as_html:
+            return formatted
+        else:
             return _("attachment: %s") % formatted
-        return formatted
 
     def format(self, component: Component, value: dict) -> str:
         # this is only valid for display to the user (because filename component option, dedupe etc)