diff --git a/code/modules/mob/dead/observer/say.dm b/code/modules/mob/dead/observer/say.dm
index acf6c887d7f..34a0d44d631 100644
--- a/code/modules/mob/dead/observer/say.dm
+++ b/code/modules/mob/dead/observer/say.dm
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /mob/dead/observer/say(var/message)
-	message = trim(copytext(message, 1, MAX_MESSAGE_LEN))
+	message = sanitize(copytext(message, 1, MAX_MESSAGE_LEN))
 
 	if (!message)
 		return
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
 
 /mob/dead/observer/emote(var/act, var/type, var/message)
-	message = trim(copytext(message, 1, MAX_MESSAGE_LEN))
+	message = sanitize(copytext(message, 1, MAX_MESSAGE_LEN))
 
 	if(!message)
 		return