diff --git a/rhodecode/__init__.py b/rhodecode/__init__.py
--- a/rhodecode/__init__.py
+++ b/rhodecode/__init__.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ PYRAMID_SETTINGS = {}
 EXTENSIONS = {}
 
 __version__ = ('.'.join((str(each) for each in VERSION[:3])))
-__dbversion__ = 86  # defines current db version for migrations
+__dbversion__ = 87  # defines current db version for migrations
 __platform__ = platform.system()
 __license__ = 'AGPLv3, and Commercial License'
 __author__ = 'RhodeCode GmbH'
diff --git a/rhodecode/apps/repository/tests/test_repo_pullrequests.py b/rhodecode/apps/repository/tests/test_repo_pullrequests.py
--- a/rhodecode/apps/repository/tests/test_repo_pullrequests.py
+++ b/rhodecode/apps/repository/tests/test_repo_pullrequests.py
@@ -368,8 +368,9 @@ class TestPullrequestsView(object):
                 ('target_repo', target.repo_name),
                 ('target_ref',  'branch:default:' + commit_ids['ancestor']),
                 ('common_ancestor', commit_ids['ancestor']),
+                ('pullrequest_title', 'Title'),
                 ('pullrequest_desc', 'Description'),
-                ('pullrequest_title', 'Title'),
+                ('description_renderer', 'markdown'),
                 ('__start__', 'review_members:sequence'),
                     ('__start__', 'reviewer:mapping'),
                         ('user_id', '1'),
@@ -427,8 +428,9 @@ class TestPullrequestsView(object):
                 ('target_repo', target.repo_name),
                 ('target_ref',  'branch:default:' + commit_ids['ancestor-child']),
                 ('common_ancestor', commit_ids['ancestor']),
+                ('pullrequest_title', 'Title'),
                 ('pullrequest_desc', 'Description'),
-                ('pullrequest_title', 'Title'),
+                ('description_renderer', 'markdown'),
                 ('__start__', 'review_members:sequence'),
                     ('__start__', 'reviewer:mapping'),
                         ('user_id', '2'),
@@ -493,8 +495,9 @@ class TestPullrequestsView(object):
                 ('target_repo', target.repo_name),
                 ('target_ref',  'branch:default:' + commit_ids['ancestor-child']),
                 ('common_ancestor', commit_ids['ancestor']),
+                ('pullrequest_title', 'Title'),
                 ('pullrequest_desc', 'Description'),
-                ('pullrequest_title', 'Title'),
+                ('description_renderer', 'markdown'),
                 ('__start__', 'review_members:sequence'),
                     ('__start__', 'reviewer:mapping'),
                         ('user_id', '1'),
diff --git a/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_pull_requests.py b/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_pull_requests.py
--- a/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_pull_requests.py
+++ b/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_pull_requests.py
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ class RepoPullRequestsView(RepoAppView, 
         c = self._get_local_tmpl_context(include_app_defaults=True)
         c.REVIEW_STATUS_APPROVED = ChangesetStatus.STATUS_APPROVED
         c.REVIEW_STATUS_REJECTED = ChangesetStatus.STATUS_REJECTED
-
+        # backward compat., we use for OLD PRs a plain renderer
+        c.renderer = 'plain'
         return c
 
     def _get_pull_requests_list(
@@ -297,6 +298,7 @@ class RepoPullRequestsView(RepoAppView, 
             pull_request_at_ver)
 
         c.pull_request = pull_request_display_obj
+        c.renderer = pull_request_at_ver.description_renderer or c.renderer
         c.pull_request_latest = pull_request_latest
 
         if compare or (at_version and not at_version == 'latest'):
@@ -894,6 +896,7 @@ class RepoPullRequestsView(RepoAppView, 
             )
 
         description = _form['pullrequest_desc']
+        description_renderer = _form['description_renderer']
 
         try:
             pull_request = PullRequestModel().create(
@@ -906,6 +909,7 @@ class RepoPullRequestsView(RepoAppView, 
                 reviewers=reviewers,
                 title=pullrequest_title,
                 description=description,
+                description_renderer=description_renderer,
                 reviewer_data=reviewer_rules,
                 auth_user=self._rhodecode_user
             )
@@ -970,10 +974,14 @@ class RepoPullRequestsView(RepoAppView, 
 
     def _edit_pull_request(self, pull_request):
         _ = self.request.translate
+
         try:
             PullRequestModel().edit(
-                pull_request, self.request.POST.get('title'),
-                self.request.POST.get('description'), self._rhodecode_user)
+                pull_request,
+                self.request.POST.get('title'),
+                self.request.POST.get('description'),
+                self.request.POST.get('description_renderer'),
+                self._rhodecode_user)
         except ValueError:
             msg = _(u'Cannot update closed pull requests.')
             h.flash(msg, category='error')
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/dbmigrate/versions/087_version_4_13_0.py b/rhodecode/lib/dbmigrate/versions/087_version_4_13_0.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/dbmigrate/versions/087_version_4_13_0.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import logging
+
+from sqlalchemy import *
+
+from rhodecode.model import meta
+from rhodecode.lib.dbmigrate.versions import _reset_base, notify
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def upgrade(migrate_engine):
+    """
+    Upgrade operations go here.
+    Don't create your own engine; bind migrate_engine to your metadata
+    """
+    _reset_base(migrate_engine)
+    from rhodecode.lib.dbmigrate.schema import db_4_11_0_0 as db
+
+    pull_request_table = db.PullRequest.__table__
+    pull_request_version_table = db.PullRequestVersion.__table__
+
+    renderer = Column('description_renderer', Unicode(64), nullable=True)
+    renderer.create(table=pull_request_table)
+
+    renderer_ver = Column('description_renderer', Unicode(64), nullable=True)
+    renderer_ver.create(table=pull_request_version_table)
+
+    # issue fixups
+    fixups(db, meta.Session)
+
+
+def downgrade(migrate_engine):
+    meta = MetaData()
+    meta.bind = migrate_engine
+
+
+def fixups(models, _SESSION):
+    pass
+
+
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/helpers.py b/rhodecode/lib/helpers.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/helpers.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/helpers.py
@@ -1814,7 +1814,11 @@ def render(source, renderer='rst', menti
             return relative_links(html_source, relative_urls)
         return html_source
 
-    if renderer == 'rst':
+    if renderer == 'plain':
+        return literal(
+            MarkupRenderer.plain(source, leading_newline=False))
+
+    elif renderer == 'rst':
         if repo_name:
             # process patterns on comments if we pass in repo name
             source, issues = process_patterns(
@@ -1824,6 +1828,7 @@ def render(source, renderer='rst', menti
             '<div class="rst-block">%s</div>' %
             maybe_convert_relative_links(
                 MarkupRenderer.rst(source, mentions=mentions)))
+
     elif renderer == 'markdown':
         if repo_name:
             # process patterns on comments if we pass in repo name
@@ -1835,6 +1840,7 @@ def render(source, renderer='rst', menti
             maybe_convert_relative_links(
                 MarkupRenderer.markdown(source, flavored=True,
                                         mentions=mentions)))
+
     elif renderer == 'jupyter':
         return literal(
             '<div class="ipynb">%s</div>' %
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/markup_renderer.py b/rhodecode/lib/markup_renderer.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/markup_renderer.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/markup_renderer.py
@@ -319,14 +319,18 @@ class MarkupRenderer(object):
         return cls.URL_PAT.sub(url_func, text)
 
     @classmethod
-    def plain(cls, source, universal_newline=True):
+    def plain(cls, source, universal_newline=True, leading_newline=True):
         source = safe_unicode(source)
         if universal_newline:
             newline = '\n'
             source = newline.join(source.splitlines())
 
-        source = cls.urlify_text(source)
-        return '<br />' + source.replace("\n", '<br />')
+        rendered_source = cls.urlify_text(source)
+        source = ''
+        if leading_newline:
+            source += '<br />'
+        source += rendered_source.replace("\n", '<br />')
+        return source
 
     @classmethod
     def markdown(cls, source, safe=True, flavored=True, mentions=False,
diff --git a/rhodecode/model/db.py b/rhodecode/model/db.py
--- a/rhodecode/model/db.py
+++ b/rhodecode/model/db.py
@@ -3454,6 +3454,8 @@ class _PullRequestBase(BaseModel):
     description = Column(
         'description', UnicodeText().with_variant(UnicodeText(10240), 'mysql'),
         nullable=True)
+    description_renderer = Column('description_renderer', Unicode(64), nullable=True)
+
     # new/open/closed status of pull request (not approve/reject/etc)
     status = Column('status', Unicode(255), nullable=False, default=STATUS_NEW)
     created_on = Column(
diff --git a/rhodecode/model/forms.py b/rhodecode/model/forms.py
--- a/rhodecode/model/forms.py
+++ b/rhodecode/model/forms.py
@@ -606,6 +606,7 @@ def PullRequestForm(localizer, repo_id):
         review_members = formencode.ForEach(ReviewerForm())
         pullrequest_title = v.UnicodeString(strip=True, required=True, min=3, max=255)
         pullrequest_desc = v.UnicodeString(strip=True, required=False)
+        description_renderer = v.UnicodeString(strip=True, required=False)
 
     return _PullRequestForm
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/model/pull_request.py b/rhodecode/model/pull_request.py
--- a/rhodecode/model/pull_request.py
+++ b/rhodecode/model/pull_request.py
@@ -444,6 +444,7 @@ class PullRequestModel(BaseModel):
 
     def create(self, created_by, source_repo, source_ref, target_repo,
                target_ref, revisions, reviewers, title, description=None,
+               description_renderer=None,
                reviewer_data=None, translator=None, auth_user=None):
         translator = translator or get_current_request().translate
 
@@ -460,6 +461,7 @@ class PullRequestModel(BaseModel):
         pull_request.revisions = revisions
         pull_request.title = title
         pull_request.description = description
+        pull_request.description_renderer = description_renderer
         pull_request.author = created_by_user
         pull_request.reviewer_data = reviewer_data
 
@@ -980,7 +982,7 @@ class PullRequestModel(BaseModel):
         renderer = RstTemplateRenderer()
         return renderer.render('pull_request_update.mako', **params)
 
-    def edit(self, pull_request, title, description, user):
+    def edit(self, pull_request, title, description, description_renderer, user):
         pull_request = self.__get_pull_request(pull_request)
         old_data = pull_request.get_api_data(with_merge_state=False)
         if pull_request.is_closed():
@@ -989,6 +991,7 @@ class PullRequestModel(BaseModel):
             pull_request.title = title
         pull_request.description = description
         pull_request.updated_on = datetime.datetime.now()
+        pull_request.description_renderer = description_renderer
         Session().add(pull_request)
         self._log_audit_action(
             'repo.pull_request.edit', {'old_data': old_data},
diff --git a/rhodecode/public/js/src/rhodecode/pullrequests.js b/rhodecode/public/js/src/rhodecode/pullrequests.js
--- a/rhodecode/public/js/src/rhodecode/pullrequests.js
+++ b/rhodecode/public/js/src/rhodecode/pullrequests.js
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ var updateCommits = function(repo_name, 
 /**
  * PULL REQUEST edit info
  */
-var editPullRequest = function(repo_name, pull_request_id, title, description) {
+var editPullRequest = function(repo_name, pull_request_id, title, description, renderer) {
     var url = pyroutes.url(
         'pullrequest_update',
         {"repo_name": repo_name, "pull_request_id": pull_request_id});
@@ -369,6 +369,7 @@ var editPullRequest = function(repo_name
     var postData = {
         'title': title,
         'description': description,
+        'description_renderer': renderer,
         'edit_pull_request': true,
         'csrf_token': CSRF_TOKEN
     };
diff --git a/rhodecode/templates/pullrequests/pullrequest.mako b/rhodecode/templates/pullrequests/pullrequest.mako
--- a/rhodecode/templates/pullrequests/pullrequest.mako
+++ b/rhodecode/templates/pullrequests/pullrequest.mako
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
                                 <label for="pullrequest_desc">${_('Description')}:</label>
                             </div>
                             <div class="textarea text-area editor">
+                                <input id="pr-renderer-input" type="hidden" name="description_renderer" value="${c.visual.default_renderer}">
                                 ${dt.markup_form('pullrequest_desc')}
                             </div>
                         </div>
diff --git a/rhodecode/templates/pullrequests/pullrequest_show.mako b/rhodecode/templates/pullrequests/pullrequest_show.mako
--- a/rhodecode/templates/pullrequests/pullrequest_show.mako
+++ b/rhodecode/templates/pullrequests/pullrequest_show.mako
@@ -166,13 +166,14 @@
             </div>
            </div>
            <div class="field">
-            <div class="pr-description-label label-summary">
+            <div class="pr-description-label label-summary" title="${_('Rendered using {} renderer').format(c.renderer)}">
                 <label>${_('Description')}:</label>
             </div>
             <div id="pr-desc" class="input">
-                <div class="pr-description">${h.render(c.pull_request.description, renderer=c.visual.default_renderer)}</div>
+                <div class="pr-description">${h.render(c.pull_request.description, renderer=c.renderer)}</div>
             </div>
             <div id="pr-desc-edit" class="input textarea editor" style="display: none;">
+                <input id="pr-renderer-input" type="hidden" name="description_renderer" value="${c.visual.default_renderer}">
                 ${dt.markup_form('pr-description-input', form_text=c.pull_request.description)}
             </div>
            </div>
@@ -795,9 +796,10 @@
             $('#edit_pull_request').on('click', function(e){
                 var title = $('#pr-title-input').val();
                 var description = codeMirrorInstance.getValue();
+                var renderer = $('#pr-renderer-input').val();
                 editPullRequest(
                     "${c.repo_name}", "${c.pull_request.pull_request_id}",
-                    title, description);
+                    title, description, renderer);
             });
 
             $('#update_pull_request').on('click', function(e){