diff --git a/livy/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/livy/LivySparkSQLInterpreter.java b/livy/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/livy/LivySparkSQLInterpreter.java
index b93626d45b9..7b2d7d66684 100644
--- a/livy/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/livy/LivySparkSQLInterpreter.java
+++ b/livy/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/livy/LivySparkSQLInterpreter.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 package org.apache.zeppelin.livy;
 
 import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
+import static org.apache.commons.lang.StringEscapeUtils.escapeJavaScript;
 import org.apache.zeppelin.interpreter.*;
 import org.apache.zeppelin.scheduler.Scheduler;
 import org.apache.zeppelin.scheduler.SchedulerFactory;
@@ -26,7 +27,6 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
-
 /**
  * Livy SparkSQL Interpreter for Zeppelin.
  */
@@ -166,15 +166,18 @@ public FormType getFormType() {
 
   protected List<String> parseSQLOutput(String output) {
     List<String> rows = new ArrayList<>();
-    String[] lines = output.split("\n");
+    // Get first line by breaking on \n. We can guarantee
+    // that \n marks the end of the first line, but not for
+    // subsequent lines (as it could be in the cells)
+    String firstLine = output.split("\n", 2)[0];
     // at least 4 lines, even for empty sql output
     //    +---+---+
     //    |  a|  b|
     //    +---+---+
     //    +---+---+
 
-    // use the first line to determinte the position of feach cell
-    String[] tokens = StringUtils.split(lines[0], "\\+");
+    // use the first line to determine the position of each cell
+    String[] tokens = StringUtils.split(firstLine, "\\+");
     // pairs keeps the start/end position of each cell. We parse it from the first row
     // which use '+' as separator
     List<Pair> pairs = new ArrayList<>();
@@ -186,17 +189,26 @@ protected List<String> parseSQLOutput(String output) {
       pairs.add(new Pair(start, end));
     }
 
-    for (String line : lines) {
+    // Use the header line to determine the position
+    // of subsequent lines
+    int lineStart = 0;
+    int lineEnd = firstLine.length();
+    while (lineEnd < output.length()) {
       // Only match format "|....|"
       // skip line like "+---+---+" and "only showing top 1 row"
-      if (line.matches("^\\|.*\\|$")) {
+      String line = output.substring(lineStart, lineEnd);
+      // Use the DOTALL regex mode to match newlines
+      if (line.matches("(?s)^\\|.*\\|$")) {
         List<String> cells = new ArrayList<>();
         for (Pair pair : pairs) {
-          // strip the blank space around the cell
-          cells.add(line.substring(pair.start, pair.end).trim());
+          // strip the blank space around the cell and escape the string
+          cells.add(escapeJavaScript(line.substring(pair.start, pair.end)).trim());
         }
         rows.add(StringUtils.join(cells, "\t"));
       }
+      // Determine position of next line skipping newline
+      lineStart += firstLine.length() + 1;
+      lineEnd = lineStart + firstLine.length();
     }
     return rows;
   }
diff --git a/livy/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/livy/LivySQLInterpreterTest.java b/livy/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/livy/LivySQLInterpreterTest.java
index 24d70ec2b04..0541b876755 100644
--- a/livy/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/livy/LivySQLInterpreterTest.java
+++ b/livy/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/livy/LivySQLInterpreterTest.java
@@ -124,5 +124,49 @@ public void testParseSQLOutput() {
     assertEquals(2, rows.size());
     assertEquals("a", rows.get(0));
     assertEquals("1", rows.get(1));
+
+
+    //  sql output with 3 rows, 3 columns, showing "only showing top 3 rows" with a line break in the data
+    //    +---+---+---+
+    //    |  a|  b|  c|
+    //    +---+---+---+
+    //    | 1a| 1b| 1c|
+    //    | 2a| 2
+    //    b| 2c|
+    //    | 3a| 3b| 3c|
+    //    +---+---+---+
+    //    only showing top 3 rows
+    rows = sqlInterpreter.parseSQLOutput("+---+----+---+\n" +
+            "|  a|   b|  c|\n" +
+            "+---+----+---+\n" +
+            "| 1a|  1b| 1c|\n" +
+            "| 2a| 2\nb| 2c|\n" +
+            "| 3a|  3b| 3c|\n" +
+            "+---+---+---+\n" +
+            "only showing top 3 rows");
+    assertEquals(4, rows.size());
+    assertEquals("a\tb\tc", rows.get(0));
+    assertEquals("1a\t1b\t1c", rows.get(1));
+    assertEquals("2a\t2\\nb\t2c", rows.get(2));
+    assertEquals("3a\t3b\t3c", rows.get(3));
+
+
+    //  sql output with 2 rows and one containing a tab
+    //    +---+---+
+    //    |  a|  b|
+    //    +---+---+
+    //    |  1| \ta|
+    //    |  2| 2b|
+    //    +---+---+
+    rows = sqlInterpreter.parseSQLOutput("+---+---+\n" +
+            "|  a|  b|\n" +
+            "+---+---+\n" +
+            "|  1| \ta|\n" +
+            "|  2| 2b|\n" +
+            "+---+---+");
+    assertEquals(3, rows.size());
+    assertEquals("a\tb", rows.get(0));
+    assertEquals("1\t\\ta", rows.get(1));
+    assertEquals("2\t2b", rows.get(2));
   }
 }