diff --git a/otterwiki/renderer_plugins.py b/otterwiki/renderer_plugins.py
index 1bdb3a4..56a8c58 100644
--- a/otterwiki/renderer_plugins.py
+++ b/otterwiki/renderer_plugins.py
@@ -344,10 +344,6 @@ def render_html_fancy_block(self, text, family, header):
         else:
             header = ""
         text = text.strip()
-        if text.startswith('<p>'):
-            text = text[3:]
-        if text.endswith('</p>'):
-            text = text[:-4]
         return (
             f'<div class="{cls} mb-20" role="alert">{header}\n{text}</div>\n'
         )
diff --git a/otterwiki/static/css/otterwiki.css b/otterwiki/static/css/otterwiki.css
index 9343a13..cddd288 100644
--- a/otterwiki/static/css/otterwiki.css
+++ b/otterwiki/static/css/otterwiki.css
@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ pre,
     overflow: auto;
 }
 
+.page > .alert > p {
+    margin-block-end: 0.2em;
+}
+
 .dark-mode code,
 .dark-mode pre,
 .dark-mode .code {