diff --git a/mytwitter.py b/mytwitter.py
index fd04a19..dbaa9c1 100755
--- a/mytwitter.py
+++ b/mytwitter.py
@@ -177,7 +177,8 @@ class TweetBox(gtk.VBox):
         self.text.set_alignment(0.0, 0.0)
         self.text.set_selectable(True)
         self.text.set_line_wrap(True)
-        self.text.connect('activate-link', self.on_url_clicked)
+        if gtk.pygtk_version[0] > 2 or (gtk.pygtk_version[0] == 2 and gtk.pygtk_version[1] >= 18):
+            self.text.connect('activate-link', self.on_url_clicked)
 
         button_box = gtk.HBox()
         self.pack_start(button_box)
@@ -211,8 +212,9 @@ class TweetBox(gtk.VBox):
 
         # and the text
         new_text = status.text
-        new_text = re.sub('& ', '& ', new_text)
-        new_text = re.sub(r"(http://.*?)( |$)", r'<a href="\1">\1</a>\2', new_text)
+        new_text = re.sub('&([^;]*?)( |$)', '&amp;\1\2', new_text)
+        if gtk.pygtk_version[0] > 2 or (gtk.pygtk_version[0] == 2 and gtk.pygtk_version[1] >= 18):
+            new_text = re.sub(r"(http://.*?)( |$)", r'<a href="\1">\1</a>\2', new_text)
         self.text.set_markup(new_text)