diff --git a/Doc/library/html.entities.rst b/Doc/library/html.entities.rst
index 65ce817..ba8324c 100644
--- a/Doc/library/html.entities.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/html.entities.rst
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
    Note that the trailing semicolon is included in the name (e.g. ``'gt;'``),
    however some of the names are accepted by the standard even without the
    semicolon: in this case the name is present with and without the ``';'``.
+   See also :func:`html.unescape`.
 
    .. versionadded:: 3.3
 
diff --git a/Doc/library/html.rst b/Doc/library/html.rst
index 1107ca9..d0706bc 100644
--- a/Doc/library/html.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/html.rst
@@ -20,6 +20,17 @@
 
    .. versionadded:: 3.2
 
+
+.. function:: unescape(s)
+
+   Convert all named and numeric character references (e.g. ``&gt;``,
+   ``&#62;``, ``&x3e;``) in the string *s* to the corresponding unicode
+   characters.  This function uses the rules defined by the HTML 5 standard
+   for both valid and invalid character references, and the :data:`list of
+   HTML 5 named character references <html.entities.html5>`.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.4
+
 --------------
 
 Submodules in the ``html`` package are:
diff --git a/Lib/html/__init__.py b/Lib/html/__init__.py
index 2ad167f..da0a0a3 100644
--- a/Lib/html/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/html/__init__.py
@@ -2,7 +2,12 @@
 General functions for HTML manipulation.
 """
 
-# NB: this is a candidate for a bytes/string polymorphic interface
+import re as _re
+from html.entities import html5 as _html5
+
+
+__all__ = ['escape', 'unescape']
+
 
 def escape(s, quote=True):
     """
@@ -18,3 +23,110 @@
         s = s.replace('"', "&quot;")
         s = s.replace('\'', "&#x27;")
     return s
+
+
+# see http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/syntax.html#tokenizing-character-references
+
+_invalid_charrefs = {
+    0x00: '\ufffd',  # REPLACEMENT CHARACTER
+    0x0d: '\r',      # CARRIAGE RETURN
+    0x80: '\u20ac',  # EURO SIGN
+    0x81: '\x81',    # <control>
+    0x82: '\u201a',  # SINGLE LOW-9 QUOTATION MARK
+    0x83: '\u0192',  # LATIN SMALL LETTER F WITH HOOK
+    0x84: '\u201e',  # DOUBLE LOW-9 QUOTATION MARK
+    0x85: '\u2026',  # HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS
+    0x86: '\u2020',  # DAGGER
+    0x87: '\u2021',  # DOUBLE DAGGER
+    0x88: '\u02c6',  # MODIFIER LETTER CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT
+    0x89: '\u2030',  # PER MILLE SIGN
+    0x8a: '\u0160',  # LATIN CAPITAL LETTER S WITH CARON
+    0x8b: '\u2039',  # SINGLE LEFT-POINTING ANGLE QUOTATION MARK
+    0x8c: '\u0152',  # LATIN CAPITAL LIGATURE OE
+    0x8d: '\x8d',    # <control>
+    0x8e: '\u017d',  # LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Z WITH CARON
+    0x8f: '\x8f',    # <control>
+    0x90: '\x90',    # <control>
+    0x91: '\u2018',  # LEFT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK
+    0x92: '\u2019',  # RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK
+    0x93: '\u201c',  # LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK
+    0x94: '\u201d',  # RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK
+    0x95: '\u2022',  # BULLET
+    0x96: '\u2013',  # EN DASH
+    0x97: '\u2014',  # EM DASH
+    0x98: '\u02dc',  # SMALL TILDE
+    0x99: '\u2122',  # TRADE MARK SIGN
+    0x9a: '\u0161',  # LATIN SMALL LETTER S WITH CARON
+    0x9b: '\u203a',  # SINGLE RIGHT-POINTING ANGLE QUOTATION MARK
+    0x9c: '\u0153',  # LATIN SMALL LIGATURE OE
+    0x9d: '\x9d',    # <control>
+    0x9e: '\u017e',  # LATIN SMALL LETTER Z WITH CARON
+    0x9f: '\u0178',  # LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Y WITH DIAERESIS
+}
+
+_invalid_codepoints = {
+    # 0x0001 to 0x0008
+    0x1, 0x2, 0x3, 0x4, 0x5, 0x6, 0x7, 0x8,
+    # 0x000E to 0x001F
+    0xe, 0xf, 0x10, 0x11, 0x12, 0x13, 0x14, 0x15, 0x16, 0x17, 0x18, 0x19,
+    0x1a, 0x1b, 0x1c, 0x1d, 0x1e, 0x1f,
+    # 0x007F to 0x009F
+    0x7f, 0x80, 0x81, 0x82, 0x83, 0x84, 0x85, 0x86, 0x87, 0x88, 0x89, 0x8a,
+    0x8b, 0x8c, 0x8d, 0x8e, 0x8f, 0x90, 0x91, 0x92, 0x93, 0x94, 0x95, 0x96,
+    0x97, 0x98, 0x99, 0x9a, 0x9b, 0x9c, 0x9d, 0x9e, 0x9f,
+    # 0xFDD0 to 0xFDEF
+    0xfdd0, 0xfdd1, 0xfdd2, 0xfdd3, 0xfdd4, 0xfdd5, 0xfdd6, 0xfdd7, 0xfdd8,
+    0xfdd9, 0xfdda, 0xfddb, 0xfddc, 0xfddd, 0xfdde, 0xfddf, 0xfde0, 0xfde1,
+    0xfde2, 0xfde3, 0xfde4, 0xfde5, 0xfde6, 0xfde7, 0xfde8, 0xfde9, 0xfdea,
+    0xfdeb, 0xfdec, 0xfded, 0xfdee, 0xfdef,
+    # others
+    0xb, 0xfffe, 0xffff, 0x1fffe, 0x1ffff, 0x2fffe, 0x2ffff, 0x3fffe, 0x3ffff,
+    0x4fffe, 0x4ffff, 0x5fffe, 0x5ffff, 0x6fffe, 0x6ffff, 0x7fffe, 0x7ffff,
+    0x8fffe, 0x8ffff, 0x9fffe, 0x9ffff, 0xafffe, 0xaffff, 0xbfffe, 0xbffff,
+    0xcfffe, 0xcffff, 0xdfffe, 0xdffff, 0xefffe, 0xeffff, 0xffffe, 0xfffff,
+    0x10fffe, 0x10ffff
+}
+
+
+def _replace_charref(s):
+    s = s.group(1)
+    if s[0] == '#':
+        # numeric charref
+        if s[1] in 'xX':
+            num = int(s[2:].rstrip(';'), 16)
+        else:
+            num = int(s[1:].rstrip(';'))
+        if num in _invalid_charrefs:
+            return _invalid_charrefs[num]
+        if 0xD800 <= num <= 0xDFFF or num > 0x10FFFF:
+            return '\uFFFD'
+        if num in _invalid_codepoints:
+            return ''
+        return chr(num)
+    else:
+        # named charref
+        if s in _html5:
+            return _html5[s]
+        # find the longest matching name (as defined by the standard)
+        for x in range(len(s)-1, 1, -1):
+            if s[:x] in _html5:
+                return _html5[s[:x]] + s[x:]
+        else:
+            return '&' + s
+
+
+_charref = _re.compile(r'&(#[0-9]+;?'
+                       r'|#[xX][0-9a-fA-F]+;?'
+                       r'|[^\t\n\f <&#;]{1,32};?)')
+
+def unescape(s):
+    """
+    Convert all named and numeric character references (e.g. &gt;, &#62;,
+    &x3e;) in the string s to the corresponding unicode characters.
+    This function uses the rules defined by the HTML 5 standard
+    for both valid and invalid character references, and the list of
+    HTML 5 named character references defined in html.entities.html5.
+    """
+    if '&' not in s:
+        return s
+    return _charref.sub(_replace_charref, s)
diff --git a/Lib/html/parser.py b/Lib/html/parser.py
index 22498db..e793c37 100644
--- a/Lib/html/parser.py
+++ b/Lib/html/parser.py
@@ -8,9 +8,12 @@
 # and CDATA (character data -- only end tags are special).
 
 
-import _markupbase
 import re
 import warnings
+import _markupbase
+
+from html import unescape
+
 
 __all__ = ['HTMLParser']
 
@@ -357,7 +360,7 @@
                  attrvalue[:1] == '"' == attrvalue[-1:]:
                 attrvalue = attrvalue[1:-1]
             if attrvalue:
-                attrvalue = self.unescape(attrvalue)
+                attrvalue = unescape(attrvalue)
             attrs.append((attrname.lower(), attrvalue))
             k = m.end()
 
@@ -510,34 +513,3 @@
     def unknown_decl(self, data):
         if self.strict:
             self.error("unknown declaration: %r" % (data,))
-
-    # Internal -- helper to remove special character quoting
-    def unescape(self, s):
-        if '&' not in s:
-            return s
-        def replaceEntities(s):
-            s = s.groups()[0]
-            try:
-                if s[0] == "#":
-                    s = s[1:]
-                    if s[0] in ['x','X']:
-                        c = int(s[1:].rstrip(';'), 16)
-                    else:
-                        c = int(s.rstrip(';'))
-                    return chr(c)
-            except ValueError:
-                return '&#' + s
-            else:
-                from html.entities import html5
-                if s in html5:
-                    return html5[s]
-                elif s.endswith(';'):
-                    return '&' + s
-                for x in range(2, len(s)):
-                    if s[:x] in html5:
-                        return html5[s[:x]] + s[x:]
-                else:
-                    return '&' + s
-
-        return re.sub(r"&(#?[xX]?(?:[0-9a-fA-F]+;|\w{1,32};?))",
-                      replaceEntities, s, flags=re.ASCII)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_html.py b/Lib/test/test_html.py
index 30dac58..5e9f382 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_html.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_html.py
@@ -16,9 +16,89 @@
             html.escape('\'<script>"&foo;"</script>\'', False),
             '\'&lt;script&gt;"&amp;foo;"&lt;/script&gt;\'')
 
+    def test_unescape(self):
+        numeric_formats = ['&#%d', '&#%d;', '&#x%x', '&#x%x;']
+        errmsg = 'unescape(%r) should have returned %r'
+        def check(text, expected):
+            self.assertEqual(html.unescape(text), expected,
+                             msg=errmsg % (text, expected))
+        def check_num(num, expected):
+            for format in numeric_formats:
+                text = format % num
+                self.assertEqual(html.unescape(text), expected,
+                                 msg=errmsg % (text, expected))
+        # check text with no character references
+        check('no character references', 'no character references')
+        # check & followed by invalid chars
+        check('&\n&\t& &&', '&\n&\t& &&')
+        # check & followed by numbers and letters
+        check('&0 &9 &a &0; &9; &a;', '&0 &9 &a &0; &9; &a;')
+        # check incomplete entities at the end of the string
+        for x in ['&', '&#', '&#x', '&#X', '&#y', '&#xy', '&#Xy']:
+            check(x, x)
+            check(x+';', x+';')
+        # check several combinations of numeric character references,
+        # possibly followed by different characters
+        formats = ['&#%d', '&#%07d', '&#%d;', '&#%07d;',
+                   '&#x%x', '&#x%06x', '&#x%x;', '&#x%06x;',
+                   '&#x%X', '&#x%06X', '&#X%x;', '&#X%06x;']
+        for num, char in zip([65, 97, 34, 38, 0x2603, 0x101234],
+                             ['A', 'a', '"', '&', '\u2603', '\U00101234']):
+            for s in formats:
+                check(s % num, char)
+                for end in [' ', 'X']:
+                    check((s+end) % num, char+end)
+        # check invalid codepoints
+        for cp in [0xD800, 0xDB00, 0xDC00, 0xDFFF, 0x110000]:
+            check_num(cp, '\uFFFD')
+        # check more invalid codepoints
+        for cp in [0x1, 0xb, 0xe, 0x7f, 0xfffe, 0xffff, 0x10fffe, 0x10ffff]:
+            check_num(cp, '')
+        # check invalid numbers
+        for num, ch in zip([0x0d, 0x80, 0x95, 0x9d], '\r\u20ac\u2022\x9d'):
+            check_num(num, ch)
+        # check small numbers
+        check_num(0, '\uFFFD')
+        check_num(9, '\t')
+        # check a big number
+        check_num(1000000000000000000, '\uFFFD')
+        # check that multiple trailing semicolons are handled correctly
+        for e in ['&quot;;', '&#34;;', '&#x22;;', '&#X22;;']:
+            check(e, '";')
+        # check that semicolons in the middle don't create problems
+        for e in ['&quot;quot;', '&#34;quot;', '&#x22;quot;', '&#X22;quot;']:
+            check(e, '"quot;')
+        # check triple adjacent charrefs
+        for e in ['&quot', '&#34', '&#x22', '&#X22']:
+            check(e*3, '"""')
+            check((e+';')*3, '"""')
+        # check that the case is respected
+        for e in ['&amp', '&amp;', '&AMP', '&AMP;']:
+            check(e, '&')
+        for e in ['&Amp', '&Amp;']:
+            check(e, e)
+        # check that non-existent named entities are returned unchanged
+        check('&svadilfari;', '&svadilfari;')
+        # the following examples are in the html5 specs
+        check('&notit', '¬it')
+        check('&notit;', '¬it;')
+        check('&notin', '¬in')
+        check('&notin;', '∉')
+        # a similar example with a long name
+        check('&notReallyAnExistingNamedCharacterReference;',
+              '¬ReallyAnExistingNamedCharacterReference;')
+        # longest valid name
+        check('&CounterClockwiseContourIntegral;', '∳')
+        # check a charref that maps to two unicode chars
+        check('&acE;', '\u223E\u0333')
+        check('&acE', '&acE')
+        # see #12888
+        check('&#123; ' * 1050, '{ ' * 1050)
+        # see #15156
+        check('&Eacuteric&Eacute;ric&alphacentauri&alpha;centauri',
+              'ÉricÉric&alphacentauriαcentauri')
+        check('&co;', '&co;')
 
-def test_main():
-    run_unittest(HtmlTests)
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    test_main()
+    unittest.main()
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_htmlparser.py b/Lib/test/test_htmlparser.py
index 8863316..a943d3a 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_htmlparser.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_htmlparser.py
@@ -569,18 +569,6 @@
         for html, expected in data:
             self._run_check(html, expected)
 
-    def test_unescape_function(self):
-        p = self.get_collector()
-        self.assertEqual(p.unescape('&#bad;'),'&#bad;')
-        self.assertEqual(p.unescape('&#0038;'),'&')
-        # see #12888
-        self.assertEqual(p.unescape('&#123; ' * 1050), '{ ' * 1050)
-        # see #15156
-        self.assertEqual(p.unescape('&Eacuteric&Eacute;ric'
-                                    '&alphacentauri&alpha;centauri'),
-                                    'ÉricÉric&alphacentauriαcentauri')
-        self.assertEqual(p.unescape('&co;'), '&co;')
-
     def test_broken_comments(self):
         html = ('<! not really a comment >'
                 '<! not a comment either -->'
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 1ceffb1..3da2567 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@
 - Issue #19449: in csv's writerow, handle non-string keys when generating the
   error message that certain keys are not in the 'fieldnames' list.
 
+- Issue #2927: Added the unescape() function to the html module.
+
 - Issue #8402: Added the escape() function to the glob module.
 
 - Issue #17618: Add Base85 and Ascii85 encoding/decoding to the base64 module.