diff --git a/src/commands/math/basicSymbols.js b/src/commands/math/basicSymbols.js
index 7f44356..4fc0671 100644
--- a/src/commands/math/basicSymbols.js
+++ b/src/commands/math/basicSymbols.js
@@ -24,13 +24,22 @@
   };
   _.text = function() {
     var text = this.ctrlSeq;
-    if (this[L] && !(this[L] instanceof Variable)
-        && !(this[L] instanceof BinaryOperator)
-        && this[L].ctrlSeq !== "\\ ")
-      text = '*' + text;
-    if (this[R] && !(this[R] instanceof BinaryOperator)
-        && !(this[R] instanceof SupSub))
-      text += '*';
+    if (this.isPartOfOperator) {
+      if (text[0] == '\\') {
+        text = text.slice(1, text.length);
+      }
+      else if (text[text.length-1] == ' ') {
+        text = text.slice (0, text.length-1);
+      }
+    } else {
+      if (this[L] && !(this[L] instanceof Variable)
+          && !(this[L] instanceof BinaryOperator)
+          && this[L].ctrlSeq !== '\\ ')
+        text = '*' + text;
+      if (this[R] && !(this[R] instanceof BinaryOperator)
+          && !(this[R] instanceof SupSub))
+        text += '*';
+    }
     return text;
   };
 });
@@ -83,6 +92,7 @@
   };
   _.italicize = function(bool) {
     this.isItalic = bool;
+    this.isPartOfOperator = !bool;
     this.jQ.toggleClass('mq-operator-name', !bool);
     return this;
   };