diff --git a/_config.yml b/_config.yml
index 8d9e35851..7ffe58651 100644
--- a/_config.yml
+++ b/_config.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 markdown        : kramdown
+kramdown        :
+  entity_output : as_input # — is output as —
+  smart_quotes  : [39, 39, 34, 34] # decimal for left/right single/double quotes
 pygments        : true
 contact         : "info@software-carpentry.org"
 github_url      : "https://github.com/swcarpentry"