diff --git a/lib/core/settings.py b/lib/core/settings.py
index a0b72050d..e59f1d371 100644
--- a/lib/core/settings.py
+++ b/lib/core/settings.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ from thirdparty import six
 from thirdparty.six import unichr as _unichr
 
 # sqlmap version (<major>.<minor>.<month>.<monthly commit>)
-VERSION = "1.7.10.0"
+VERSION = "1.7.10.1"
 TYPE = "dev" if VERSION.count('.') > 2 and VERSION.split('.')[-1] != '0' else "stable"
 TYPE_COLORS = {"dev": 33, "stable": 90, "pip": 34}
 VERSION_STRING = "sqlmap/%s#%s" % ('.'.join(VERSION.split('.')[:-1]) if VERSION.count('.') > 2 and VERSION.split('.')[-1] == '0' else VERSION, TYPE)
diff --git a/lib/request/connect.py b/lib/request/connect.py
index 23ac53c4e..fb5c861c9 100644
--- a/lib/request/connect.py
+++ b/lib/request/connect.py
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ from lib.core.settings import PLAIN_TEXT_CONTENT_TYPE
 from lib.core.settings import RANDOM_INTEGER_MARKER
 from lib.core.settings import RANDOM_STRING_MARKER
 from lib.core.settings import REPLACEMENT_MARKER
+from lib.core.settings import SAFE_HEX_MARKER
 from lib.core.settings import TEXT_CONTENT_TYPE_REGEX
 from lib.core.settings import UNENCODED_ORIGINAL_VALUE
 from lib.core.settings import UNICODE_ENCODING
@@ -1069,7 +1070,9 @@ class Connect(object):
                 if kb.postHint in (POST_HINT.SOAP, POST_HINT.XML):
                     # payloads in SOAP/XML should have chars > and < replaced
                     # with their HTML encoded counterparts
+                    payload = payload.replace("&#", SAFE_HEX_MARKER)
                     payload = payload.replace('&', "&amp;").replace('>', "&gt;").replace('<', "&lt;").replace('"', "&quot;").replace("'", "&apos;")  # Reference: https://stackoverflow.com/a/1091953
+                    payload = payload.replace(SAFE_HEX_MARKER, "&#")
                 elif kb.postHint == POST_HINT.JSON:
                     payload = escapeJsonValue(payload)
                 elif kb.postHint == POST_HINT.JSON_LIKE: