diff --git a/crates/runtime/src/virtual_machine.rs b/crates/runtime/src/virtual_machine.rs
index b0d970ea..2a5d7c5a 100644
--- a/crates/runtime/src/virtual_machine.rs
+++ b/crates/runtime/src/virtual_machine.rs
@@ -554,7 +554,9 @@ impl VirtualMachine {
             }
         })?;
         let substituted_text = expand_substitutions(&line_text, substitutions);
-        let markup = self.parse_markup(&substituted_text).unwrap();
+        let markup = self
+            .parse_markup(&substituted_text)
+            .map_err(DialogueError::MarkupParseError)?;
         let line = Line {
             id: string_id,
             text: markup.text,