diff --git a/contrib/babel/lisp/org-babel.el b/contrib/babel/lisp/org-babel.el
index ac5d598dc..85301364e 100644
--- a/contrib/babel/lisp/org-babel.el
+++ b/contrib/babel/lisp/org-babel.el
@@ -1056,7 +1056,8 @@ This is taken almost directly from `org-read-prop'."
   (if (and (stringp cell) (not (equal cell "")))
       (or (org-babel-number-p cell)
           (if (or (equal "(" (substring cell 0 1))
-                  (equal "'" (substring cell 0 1)))
+                  (equal "'" (substring cell 0 1))
+                  (equal "`" (substring cell 0 1)))
               (eval (read cell))
             (progn (set-text-properties 0 (length cell) nil cell) cell)))
     cell))