diff --git a/include/constants.php b/include/constants.php
index 2b60f256..78418c76 100644
--- a/include/constants.php
+++ b/include/constants.php
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?php
 defined('VERSION_NUMBER') || define('VERSION_NUMBER', '1.8.4');
-defined('RELEASE_DATE') || define('RELEASE_DATE', '2023-05-20');
+defined('RELEASE_DATE') || define('RELEASE_DATE', '2023-05-24');
 defined('IN_TRACKER') || define('IN_TRACKER', false);
 defined('PROJECTNAME') || define("PROJECTNAME","NexusPHP");
 defined('NEXUSPHPURL') || define("NEXUSPHPURL","https://nexusphp.org");
diff --git a/include/functions.php b/include/functions.php
index b48eff8a..79a8dd5a 100644
--- a/include/functions.php
+++ b/include/functions.php
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ function format_comment($text, $strip_html = true, $xssclean = false, $newtab =
 		}
 		$j++;
 	}
-	return $s;
+    return str_replace('', '', $s);
 }
 
 function highlight($search,$subject,$hlstart='<b><font class="striking">',$hlend="</font></b>")