diff --git a/src/remark/views/slideView.js b/src/remark/views/slideView.js
index 58e418c7..6053ec7f 100644
--- a/src/remark/views/slideView.js
+++ b/src/remark/views/slideView.js
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ function highlightBlockLines (block, lines) {
 function highlightBlockSpans (block, highlightSpans) {
   var pattern;
   if (highlightSpans === true) {
-    pattern = /([^`])`([^`]+?)`/g;
+    pattern = /(^|[^`])`([^`]+?)`/g;
   } else if (highlightSpans instanceof RegExp) {
     if (! highlightSpans.global) {
       throw new Error('The regular expression in `highlightSpans` must have flag /g');