diff --git a/axlsx.gemspec b/axlsx.gemspec
index 9249452d..7460d073 100644
--- a/axlsx.gemspec
+++ b/axlsx.gemspec
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ require File.expand_path('../lib/axlsx/version', __FILE__)
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.name        = 'axlsx'
-  s.version     = Axlsx::VERSION
+  s.version     = "1.3.6"
   s.author	= "Randy Morgan"
   s.email       = 'digital.ipseity@gmail.com'
   s.homepage 	= 'https://github.com/randym/axlsx'
diff --git a/lib/axlsx.rb b/lib/axlsx.rb
index 8cecf47a..ffebc7ac 100644
--- a/lib/axlsx.rb
+++ b/lib/axlsx.rb
@@ -127,6 +127,14 @@ def self.camel(s="", all_caps = true)
     s.gsub(/_(.)/){ $1.upcase }
   end
 
+    # returns the provided string with all invalid control charaters
+    # removed.
+    # @param [String] str The sting to process
+    # @return [String]
+    def self.sanitize(str)
+      str.gsub(CONTROL_CHAR_REGEX, '')
+    end
+
 
   # Instructs the serializer to not try to escape cell value input. 
   # This will give you a huge speed bonus, but if you content has <, > or other xml character data
diff --git a/lib/axlsx/version.rb b/lib/axlsx/version.rb
index 546f601d..b60645c3 100644
--- a/lib/axlsx/version.rb
+++ b/lib/axlsx/version.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 module Axlsx
 
   # The current version
-  VERSION = "1.3.6"
+  # VERSION = "1.3.6"
 end
diff --git a/lib/axlsx/workbook/shared_strings_table.rb b/lib/axlsx/workbook/shared_strings_table.rb
index 43e8a1a8..c4f6e5f7 100644
--- a/lib/axlsx/workbook/shared_strings_table.rb
+++ b/lib/axlsx/workbook/shared_strings_table.rb
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ def initialize(cells)
     # @param [String] str
     # @return [String]
     def to_xml_string
-      '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><sst xmlns="' << XML_NS << '" count="' << @count.to_s << '" uniqueCount="' << unique_count.to_s << '">' << @shared_xml_string << '</sst>'
+      str = '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><sst xmlns="' << XML_NS << '" count="' << @count.to_s << '" uniqueCount="' << unique_count.to_s << '">' << @shared_xml_string << '</sst>'
+      str = Axlsx::sanitize(str)
     end
 
     private
diff --git a/lib/axlsx/workbook/worksheet/worksheet.rb b/lib/axlsx/workbook/worksheet/worksheet.rb
index 5f650263..567b08f5 100644
--- a/lib/axlsx/workbook/worksheet/worksheet.rb
+++ b/lib/axlsx/workbook/worksheet/worksheet.rb
@@ -542,15 +542,7 @@ def to_xml_string
         item.to_xml_string(str) if item
       end
       str << '</worksheet>'
-      sanitize(str)
-    end
-
-    # returns the provided string with all invalid control charaters
-    # removed.
-    # @param [String] str The sting to process
-    # @return [String]
-    def sanitize(str)
-      str.gsub(CONTROL_CHAR_REGEX, '')
+      Axlsx::sanitize(str)
     end
 
     # The worksheet relationships. This is managed automatically by the worksheet
diff --git a/test/workbook/tc_shared_strings_table.rb b/test/workbook/tc_shared_strings_table.rb
index e3c9bf7b..79c2ec1d 100644
--- a/test/workbook/tc_shared_strings_table.rb
+++ b/test/workbook/tc_shared_strings_table.rb
@@ -35,4 +35,18 @@ def test_valid_document
     assert_equal(errors.size, 0, "sharedStirngs.xml Invalid" + errors.map{ |e| e.message }.to_s)
   end
 
+  def test_remove_control_characters_in_xml_serialization
+    nasties =  "hello\x10\x00\x1C\x1Eworld"
+    @p.workbook.worksheets[0].add_row [nasties]
+
+    # test that the nasty string was added to the shared strings
+    assert @p.workbook.shared_strings.unique_cells.has_key?(nasties)
+
+    # test that none of the control characters are in the XML output for shared strings
+    assert_no_match Axlsx::CONTROL_CHAR_REGEX, @p.workbook.shared_strings.to_xml_string
+
+    # assert that the shared string was normalized to remove the control characters
+    assert_not_nil @p.workbook.shared_strings.to_xml_string.index("helloworld")
+  end
+
 end