diff --git a/src/public/app/widgets/highlights_list.spec.ts b/src/public/app/widgets/highlights_list.spec.ts
index 498d9abb4..ad8a626c6 100644
--- a/src/public/app/widgets/highlights_list.spec.ts
+++ b/src/public/app/widgets/highlights_list.spec.ts
@@ -7,10 +7,12 @@ describe("getHighlightList", () => {
     it("supports old italics", async () => {
         const highlights = await widget.getHighlightList("This is <i>italic</i> text", [ "italic" ]);
         expect(highlights.$highlightsList.html()).toBe("<li><i>italic</i></li>");
+        expect(highlights.findSubStr).toContain("i:not(section.include-note i)");
     });
 
     it("supports new italics", async () => {
         const highlights = await widget.getHighlightList("This is <em>italic</em> text", [ "italic" ]);
         expect(highlights.$highlightsList.html()).toBe("<li><em>italic</em></li>");
+        expect(highlights.findSubStr).toContain("em:not(section.include-note em)");
     });
 })
diff --git a/src/public/app/widgets/highlights_list.ts b/src/public/app/widgets/highlights_list.ts
index 0b8bee3b9..12a0ca818 100644
--- a/src/public/app/widgets/highlights_list.ts
+++ b/src/public/app/widgets/highlights_list.ts
@@ -222,6 +222,7 @@ export default class HighlightsListWidget extends RightPanelWidget {
         }
         if (optionsHighlightsList.includes("italic")) {
             findSubStr += `,i:not(section.include-note i)`;
+            findSubStr += `,em:not(section.include-note em)`;
             combinedRegexStr += `|${regex3.source}`;
         }
         if (optionsHighlightsList.includes("bold")) {
@@ -288,7 +289,8 @@ export default class HighlightsListWidget extends RightPanelWidget {
         }
         return {
             $highlightsList,
-            hlLiCount
+            hlLiCount,
+            findSubStr
         };
     }