diff --git a/src/backends/pgfplotsx.jl b/src/backends/pgfplotsx.jl
index 2c8fde4c..212921da 100644
--- a/src/backends/pgfplotsx.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pgfplotsx.jl
@@ -988,6 +988,7 @@ end
     function pgfx_sanitize_string(s::LaTeXString)
         s = replace(s, r"\\?\#" => "\\#")
         s = replace(s, r"\\?\%" => "\\%")
+        return LaTeXString(s)
     end
 end
 function pgfx_sanitize_plot!(plt)