diff --git a/lisp/org-exp.el b/lisp/org-exp.el
index c901a88..875bdf8 100644
--- a/lisp/org-exp.el
+++ b/lisp/org-exp.el
@@ -1476,8 +1476,11 @@ the current file."
 	    "^[ \t]*:HTML_CONTAINER_CLASS:[ \t]+\\(.+\\)$" nil t)
       (setq class (match-string 1))
       (save-excursion
+	(if (re-search-backward "^\\*" (point-min) t)
+	    (progn
 	(org-back-to-heading t)
 	(put-text-property (point-at-bol) (point-at-eol) 'html-container-class class)))))
+))
 
 (defvar org-export-format-drawer-function nil
   "Function to be called to format the contents of a drawer.