diff --git a/check_curl.sh b/check_curl.sh
index 591134d..55e0b71 100755
--- a/check_curl.sh
+++ b/check_curl.sh
@@ -416,11 +416,11 @@ fi
 BODY_CONTAINS=" "
 if [ -n "$CRIT_STRING" ]; then
   BODY=$(curl -s $FOLLOW_REDIRECTS $INSECURE $HEADERS $RESOLVE $TIMEOUT $URL)
-  if $SANITIZE_HTML; then
-    BODY=$(echo "$BODY" | sed 's/</\&lt;/g' | sed 's/>/\&gt;/g')
-    fi
   # shellcheck disable=SC2076
   if ! [[ $BODY =~ "$CRIT_STRING" ]]; then
+      if $SANITIZE_HTML; then
+        BODY=$(echo "$BODY" | sed 's/</\&lt;/g' | sed 's/>/\&gt;/g')
+      fi
     echo "CRITICAL - response body does not contain the required string: $BODY"
     exit 2
   else