diff --git a/app/helpers/quill_js_helper.rb b/app/helpers/quill_js_helper.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5097b36b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/helpers/quill_js_helper.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+module QuillJsHelper
+  def sanitize_quill_js_input(input)
+    require "#{Rails.root}/app/utilities/scrubbers/quill_js_scrubber"
+
+    # We need to disable formatting to prevent unwanted \n
+    # symbols from creeping into sanitized HTML (which
+    # cause unwanted new lines when rendered in Quill.js)
+    disable_formatting =
+      Nokogiri::XML::Node::SaveOptions::DEFAULT_HTML ^
+      Nokogiri::XML::Node::SaveOptions::FORMAT
+
+    Loofah
+      .fragment(input)
+      .scrub!(QuillJsScrubber.new)
+      .to_html(save_with: disable_formatting)
+  end
+end
diff --git a/app/utilities/protocols_importer.rb b/app/utilities/protocols_importer.rb
index 7f1e9e59a..383883e17 100644
--- a/app/utilities/protocols_importer.rb
+++ b/app/utilities/protocols_importer.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 module ProtocolsImporter
-  require 'scrubbers/quill_js_scrubber'
-  include RenamingUtil
+  include RenamingUtil, QuillJsHelper
 
   def import_new_protocol(protocol_json, organization, type, user)
     remove_empty_inputs(protocol_json)
@@ -55,9 +54,8 @@ module ProtocolsImporter
       step = Step.create!(
         name: step_json["name"],
         description: # Sanitize description HTML
-          ActionController::Base.helpers.sanitize(
-            step_json['description'],
-            scrubber: QuillJsScrubber.new
+          sanitize_quill_js_input(
+            step_json['description']
           ),
         position: step_pos,
         completed: false,