diff --git a/lib/awful/menu.lua.in b/lib/awful/menu.lua.in
index 8eb05fc6..dc337870 100644
--- a/lib/awful/menu.lua.in
+++ b/lib/awful/menu.lua.in
@@ -208,11 +208,11 @@ local function add_item(data, num, item_info)
     -- Create the item label widget
     local label = wibox.widget.textbox()
     local key = ''
-    label.text = string.gsub(util.escape(item_info[1]), "&(%w)",
+    label:set_markup(string.gsub(util.escape(item_info[1]), "&(%w)",
                              function (l)
                                  key = string.lower(l)
                                  return "<u>"..l.."</u>"
-                             end, 1)
+                             end, 1))
     -- Set icon if needed
     local iconbox
     local margin = wibox.layout.margin()