diff --git a/bookwyrm/connectors/openlibrary.py b/bookwyrm/connectors/openlibrary.py
index 722e05764..58410c8e6 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/connectors/openlibrary.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/connectors/openlibrary.py
@@ -237,11 +237,19 @@ def ignore_edition(edition_data):
 def get_description(description_blob):
     """descriptions can be a string or a dict"""
     if isinstance(description_blob, dict):
-        description = description_blob.get("value")
+        description = markdown(description_blob.get("value"))
     else:
-        description = description_blob
-    # Strip the surrounding p tag to keep the description a bit cleaner
-    return markdown(description).removeprefix("<p>").removesuffix("</p>").strip()
+        description = markdown(description_blob)
+
+    if (
+        description.startswith("<p>")
+        and description.endswith("</p>")
+        and description.count("<p>") == 1
+    ):
+        # If there is just one <p> tag around the text remove it
+        return description[len("<p>") : -len("</p>")].strip()
+
+    return description
 
 
 def get_openlibrary_key(key):
diff --git a/bookwyrm/tests/connectors/test_openlibrary_connector.py b/bookwyrm/tests/connectors/test_openlibrary_connector.py
index 7075ccdf6..9f16ca215 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/tests/connectors/test_openlibrary_connector.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/tests/connectors/test_openlibrary_connector.py
@@ -189,6 +189,18 @@ class Openlibrary(TestCase):
         expected = "First in the Old Kingdom/Abhorsen series."
         self.assertEqual(description, expected)
 
+    def test_get_description_markdown_paragraphs(self):
+        """should do some cleanup on the description data"""
+        description = get_description("Paragraph 1\n\nParagraph 2")
+        expected = "<p>Paragraph 1</p>\n<p>Paragraph 2</p>"
+        self.assertEqual(description, expected)
+
+    def test_get_description_markdown_blockquote(self):
+        """should do some cleanup on the description data"""
+        description = get_description("> Quote\n\nParagraph 2")
+        expected = "<blockquote>\n<p>Quote</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Paragraph 2</p>"
+        self.assertEqual(description, expected)
+
     def test_get_openlibrary_key(self):
         """extracts the uuid"""
         key = get_openlibrary_key("/books/OL27320736M")