diff --git a/lib/blessed.js b/lib/blessed.js
index 59ef82f..c3c1724 100644
--- a/lib/blessed.js
+++ b/lib/blessed.js
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ blessed.helpers = {
   tryRead: blessed.tput.tryRead
 };
 
+Object.keys(widget.helpers).forEach(function(key) {
+  blessed.helpers[key] = widget.helpers[key];
+  blessed[key] = widget.helpers[key];
+});
+
 /**
  * Expose
  */
diff --git a/lib/widget.js b/lib/widget.js
index 4df7bd7..f1198ef 100644
--- a/lib/widget.js
+++ b/lib/widget.js
@@ -6368,6 +6368,19 @@ var wideChars = new RegExp('(['
   + '\\uffe8-\\uffee'
   + '])', 'g');
 
+/**
+ * Helpers
+ */
+
+var helpers = {};
+
+// Escape text for tag-enabled elements.
+helpers.escape = function(text) {
+  return text.replace(/[{}]/g, function(ch) {
+    return ch === '{' ? '{open}' : '{close}';
+  });
+};
+
 /**
  * Expose
  */
@@ -6400,3 +6413,5 @@ exports.Loading = exports.loading = Loading;
 exports.Listbar = exports.listbar = Listbar;
 exports.DirManager = exports.dirmanager = DirManager;
 exports.Passbox = exports.passbox = Passbox;
+
+exports.helpers = helpers;
diff --git a/test/widget-nowrap.js b/test/widget-nowrap.js
index 53ab4e9..334588e 100644
--- a/test/widget-nowrap.js
+++ b/test/widget-nowrap.js
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ var box = blessed.box({
   wrap: false,
   tags: true,
   content: fs.readFileSync(__filename, 'utf8')
+  // content: '{red-bg}' + blessed.escape('{{{{{}{bold}x{/bold}}') + '{/red-bg}'
 });
 
 box.focus();