diff --git a/src/__tests__/rss2.spec.ts b/src/__tests__/rss2.spec.ts
index dc520da..85b1081 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/rss2.spec.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/rss2.spec.ts
@@ -217,6 +217,37 @@ describe("rss 2.0", () => {
     expect(actual).toMatchSnapshot();
   });
 
+  it("should emit podcast categories as text attributes", () => {
+    const podcastFeed = new Feed({
+      title: "Feed Title",
+      id: "http://example.com/",
+      link: "http://example.com/",
+      podcast: true,
+      category: "History",
+    });
+    const actual = podcastFeed.rss2();
+    expect(actual).toContain('<itunes:category text="History"/>');
+    expect(actual).toContain('<googleplay:category text="History"/>');
+    expect(actual).not.toContain("<itunes:category>History</itunes:category>");
+    expect(actual).not.toContain("<googleplay:category>History</googleplay:category>");
+  });
+
+  it("should escape & in podcast category attributes", () => {
+    const podcastFeed = new Feed({
+      title: "Feed Title",
+      id: "http://example.com/",
+      link: "http://example.com/",
+      podcast: true,
+      category: "Society & Culture",
+    });
+    const actual = podcastFeed.rss2();
+    // unlike a text node, xml-js does not escape `&` inside an attribute value,
+    // so it must be escaped before being handed to the serializer
+    expect(actual).toContain('<itunes:category text="Society &amp; Culture"/>');
+    expect(actual).toContain('<googleplay:category text="Society &amp; Culture"/>');
+    expect(actual).not.toContain('text="Society & Culture"');
+  });
+
   it("should generate a valid feed with video", () => {
     const sampleFeed = new Feed({
       title: "Feed Title",
diff --git a/src/rss2.ts b/src/rss2.ts
index d527fa9..548deb8 100644
--- a/src/rss2.ts
+++ b/src/rss2.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import * as convert from "xml-js";
 import { generator } from "./config";
 import type { Feed } from "./feed";
 import type { Author, Category, Enclosure, Extension, Item } from "./typings";
-import { sanitizeUrl } from "./utils";
+import { sanitize, sanitizeUrl } from "./utils";
 
 export default (ins: Feed) => {
   const { options, extensions } = ins;
@@ -201,8 +201,12 @@ export default (ins: Feed) => {
     base.rss._attributes["xmlns:googleplay"] = "http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0";
     base.rss._attributes["xmlns:itunes"] = "http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd";
     if (options.category) {
-      base.rss.channel["googleplay:category"] = options.category;
-      base.rss.channel["itunes:category"] = options.category;
+      base.rss.channel["googleplay:category"] = {
+        _attributes: { text: sanitize(options.category) },
+      };
+      base.rss.channel["itunes:category"] = {
+        _attributes: { text: sanitize(options.category) },
+      };
     }
     if (options.author?.email) {
       base.rss.channel["googleplay:owner"] = options.author.email;