diff --git a/spec.txt b/spec.txt
index 31e1714d..268b0472 100644
--- a/spec.txt
+++ b/spec.txt
@@ -5659,6 +5659,10 @@ with the following exceptions:
   `*` in emphasis delimiters, bullet list markers, or thematic
   breaks.
 
+- Entity and numeric character references are replaced before
+  deciding whether a [delimiter run] can open and/or close
+  emphasis.
+
 Conforming CommonMark parsers need not store information about
 whether a particular character was represented in the source
 using a Unicode character or an entity reference.
@@ -5799,6 +5803,16 @@ text in code spans and code blocks:
 ````````````````````````````````
 
 
+Entity and numeric character references are replaced before deciding
+whether a [delimiter run] can open and/or close emphasis.
+
+```````````````````````````````` example
+i*ii*i
+.
+<p>i<em>ii</em>i</p>
+````````````````````````````````
+
+
 Entity and numeric character references cannot be used
 in place of symbols indicating structure in CommonMark
 documents.