diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index f4434cbd5..636f7db84 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ Bugs fixed
 * #5834: apidoc: wrong help for ``--tocfile``
 * #5800: todo: crashed if todo is defined in TextElement
 * #5846: htmlhelp: convert hex escaping to decimal escaping in .hhc/.hhk files
+* htmlhelp: broken .hhk file generated when title contains a double quote
 
 Testing
 --------
diff --git a/sphinx/builders/htmlhelp.py b/sphinx/builders/htmlhelp.py
index 42ee05c4a..dfb58ede6 100644
--- a/sphinx/builders/htmlhelp.py
+++ b/sphinx/builders/htmlhelp.py
@@ -13,10 +13,10 @@ from __future__ import print_function
 
 import codecs
 import os
-import re
 from os import path
 
 from docutils import nodes
+from six import PY3
 
 from sphinx import addnodes
 from sphinx.builders.html import StandaloneHTMLBuilder
@@ -170,22 +170,21 @@ chm_locales = {
 }
 
 
-def chm_htmlescape(*args, **kwargs):
-    # type: (*Any, **Any) -> unicode
+def chm_htmlescape(s, quote=None):
+    # type: (unicode, bool) -> unicode
     """
-    chm_htmlescape() is a wrapper of htmlescape().
+    chm_htmlescape() is a wrapper of html.escape().
     .hhc/.hhk files don't recognize hex escaping, we need convert
-    hex escaping to decimal escaping. for example: `'` -> `'`
-    htmlescape() may generates a hex escaping `'` for single
-    quote `'`, this wrapper fixes this.
+    hex escaping to decimal escaping. for example: ``'`` -> ``'``
+    html.escape() may generates a hex escaping ``'`` for single
+    quote ``'``, this wrapper fixes this.
     """
-    def convert(matchobj):
-        # type: (Match[unicode]) -> unicode
-        codepoint = int(matchobj.group(1), 16)
-        return '&#%d;' % codepoint
-    return re.sub(r'&#[xX]([0-9a-fA-F]+);',
-                  convert,
-                  htmlescape(*args, **kwargs))
+    if quote is None:
+        quote = PY3  # True for py3, False for py2  (for compatibility)
+
+    s = htmlescape(s, quote)
+    s = s.replace(''', ''')    # re-escape as decimal
+    return s
 
 
 class HTMLHelpBuilder(StandaloneHTMLBuilder):
@@ -297,7 +296,7 @@ class HTMLHelpBuilder(StandaloneHTMLBuilder):
                         write_toc(subnode, ullevel)
                 elif isinstance(node, nodes.reference):
                     link = node['refuri']
-                    title = chm_htmlescape(node.astext()).replace('"', '"')
+                    title = chm_htmlescape(node.astext(), True)
                     f.write(object_sitemap % (title, link))
                 elif isinstance(node, nodes.bullet_list):
                     if ullevel != 0:
@@ -327,10 +326,9 @@ class HTMLHelpBuilder(StandaloneHTMLBuilder):
                 # type: (unicode, List[Tuple[unicode, unicode]], List[Tuple[unicode, List[Tuple[unicode, unicode]]]]) -> None  # NOQA
                 def write_param(name, value):
                     # type: (unicode, unicode) -> None
-                    item = '    <param name="%s" value="%s">\n' % \
-                        (name, value)
+                    item = '    <param name="%s" value="%s">\n' % (name, value)
                     f.write(item)
-                title = chm_htmlescape(title)
+                title = chm_htmlescape(title, True)
                 f.write('<LI> <OBJECT type="text/sitemap">\n')
                 write_param('Keyword', title)
                 if len(refs) == 0:
diff --git a/tests/test_build_htmlhelp.py b/tests/test_build_htmlhelp.py
index 78c698ec4..99de2a65f 100644
--- a/tests/test_build_htmlhelp.py
+++ b/tests/test_build_htmlhelp.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 """
     test_build_htmlhelp
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@@ -9,6 +10,9 @@
 import re
 
 import pytest
+from six import PY2
+
+from sphinx.builders.htmlhelp import chm_htmlescape
 
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('htmlhelp', testroot='build-htmlhelp')
@@ -22,5 +26,29 @@ def test_chm(app):
     with open(hhk_path, 'rb') as f:
         data = f.read()
     m = re.search(br'&#[xX][0-9a-fA-F]+;', data)
-    assert m == None, 'Hex escaping exists in .hhk file: ' + str(m.group(0))
+    assert m is None, 'Hex escaping exists in .hhk file: ' + str(m.group(0))
 
+
+def test_chm_htmlescape():
+    assert chm_htmlescape('Hello world') == 'Hello world'
+    assert chm_htmlescape(u'Unicode 文字') == u'Unicode 文字'
+    assert chm_htmlescape('&#x45') == '&amp;#x45'
+
+    if PY2:
+        assert chm_htmlescape('<Hello> "world"') == '&lt;Hello&gt; "world"'
+        assert chm_htmlescape('<Hello> "world"', True) == '&lt;Hello&gt; &quot;world&quot;'
+        assert chm_htmlescape('<Hello> "world"', False) == '&lt;Hello&gt; "world"'
+    else:
+        assert chm_htmlescape('<Hello> "world"') == '&lt;Hello&gt; &quot;world&quot;'
+        assert chm_htmlescape('<Hello> "world"', True) == '&lt;Hello&gt; &quot;world&quot;'
+        assert chm_htmlescape('<Hello> "world"', False) == '&lt;Hello&gt; "world"'
+
+    if PY2:
+        # single quotes are not escaped on py2 (following the behavior of cgi.escape())
+        assert chm_htmlescape("Hello 'world'") == "Hello 'world'"
+        assert chm_htmlescape("Hello 'world'", True) == "Hello 'world'"
+        assert chm_htmlescape("Hello 'world'", False) == "Hello 'world'"
+    else:
+        assert chm_htmlescape("Hello 'world'") == "Hello &#39;world&#39;"
+        assert chm_htmlescape("Hello 'world'", True) == "Hello &#39;world&#39;"
+        assert chm_htmlescape("Hello 'world'", False) == "Hello 'world'"