diff --git a/renderers/react/src/v0_9/catalog/basic/components/Text.tsx b/renderers/react/src/v0_9/catalog/basic/components/Text.tsx
index 508c24687..18dd39d87 100644
--- a/renderers/react/src/v0_9/catalog/basic/components/Text.tsx
+++ b/renderers/react/src/v0_9/catalog/basic/components/Text.tsx
@@ -22,54 +22,46 @@ import {useMarkdown} from '../hooks/useMarkdown';
 // Import CSS Module
 import styles from './Text.module.css';
 
-/**
- * Wraps the plain text with appropriate Markdown syntax based on the requested variant.
- *
- * @param text The plain text to be wrapped.
- * @param variant The typography variant (e.g., 'h1', 'caption').
- * @returns The text wrapped in Markdown syntax.
- */
-const handleVariant = (text: string, variant?: string): string => {
-  switch (variant) {
-    case 'h1':
-      return `# ${text}`;
-    case 'h2':
-      return `## ${text}`;
-    case 'h3':
-      return `### ${text}`;
-    case 'h4':
-      return `#### ${text}`;
-    case 'h5':
-      return `##### ${text}`;
-    case 'caption':
-      return `*${text}*`;
-    default:
-      return text;
-  }
-};
+const NON_MARKDOWN_VARIANTS = new Set(['h1', 'h2', 'h3', 'h4', 'h5', 'caption']);
 
 export const Text = createComponentImplementation(TextApi, ({props}) => {
   useBasicCatalogStyles();
   const text = typeof props.text === 'string' ? props.text : String(props.text ?? '');
-  const markdownText = handleVariant(text, props.variant);
-  const renderedHtml = useMarkdown(markdownText);
+  const variant = props.variant;
+  const isKnownVariant = variant !== undefined && NON_MARKDOWN_VARIANTS.has(variant);
+
+  const renderedHtml = useMarkdown(text);
   const style: React.CSSProperties = {
     ...getBaseLeafStyle(),
     ...getWeightStyle(props.weight),
   };
 
-  const isCaption = props.variant === 'caption';
-  const classes = [styles.a2uiText, isCaption ? styles.a2uiCaption : props.variant || 'body'];
+  const isCaption = variant === 'caption';
+  const classes = [styles.a2uiText, isCaption ? styles.a2uiCaption : variant || 'body'];
+
+  if (isKnownVariant) {
+    const HeadingTag = isCaption ? 'em' : (variant as 'h1' | 'h2' | 'h3' | 'h4' | 'h5');
+    if (isCaption) {
+      return (
+        <span className={classes.join(' ')} style={style}>
+          <HeadingTag>{text}</HeadingTag>
+        </span>
+      );
+    }
+    return (
+      <div className={classes.join(' ')} style={style}>
+        <HeadingTag>{text}</HeadingTag>
+      </div>
+    );
+  }
+
   if (renderedHtml === null) {
     classes.push('no-markdown-renderer');
   }
   const contentProps =
     renderedHtml !== null
       ? {dangerouslySetInnerHTML: {__html: renderedHtml}}
-      : {children: markdownText};
+      : {children: text};
 
-  if (isCaption) {
-    return <span className={classes.join(' ')} style={style} {...contentProps} />;
-  }
   return <div className={classes.join(' ')} style={style} {...contentProps} />;
 });
diff --git a/renderers/react/tests/v0_9/catalog-components.test.tsx b/renderers/react/tests/v0_9/catalog-components.test.tsx
index 59afa8bcc..f2cc1d47b 100644
--- a/renderers/react/tests/v0_9/catalog-components.test.tsx
+++ b/renderers/react/tests/v0_9/catalog-components.test.tsx
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ describe('Basic Catalog Components', () => {
       const {view} = renderA2uiComponent(Text, 't1', {text: 'Title', variant: 'h1'});
       const h1 = view.container.querySelector('div.h1');
       expect(h1).not.toBeNull();
-      expect(h1?.textContent).toBe('# Title');
+      expect(h1?.textContent).toBe('Title');
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/renderers/react/tests/v0_9/integration-scenarios.test.tsx b/renderers/react/tests/v0_9/integration-scenarios.test.tsx
index aeae5d184..98c650898 100644
--- a/renderers/react/tests/v0_9/integration-scenarios.test.tsx
+++ b/renderers/react/tests/v0_9/integration-scenarios.test.tsx
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ describe('Gallery Integration Tests', () => {
       </React.StrictMode>,
     );
 
-    expect(screen.getByText('### Markdown Rendering')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByText('Markdown Rendering')).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
   it('renders Task Card -> content visibility', async () => {
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@ describe('Gallery Integration Tests', () => {
       </React.StrictMode>,
     );
 
-    expect(screen.getByText('### Review pull request')).toBeInTheDocument();
-    expect(screen.getByText('*Backend*')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByText('Review pull request')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByText('Backend')).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
   it('handles Login form -> input updates data model', async () => {