diff --git a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_csv_converter.py b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_csv_converter.py
index 7e9631e1b..0b6af9ae3 100644
--- a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_csv_converter.py
+++ b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_csv_converter.py
@@ -57,21 +57,33 @@ def convert(
         # Create markdown table
         markdown_table = []
 
+        def _escape_cell(value: str) -> str:
+            """Escape pipe characters so they don't break Markdown table structure."""
+            return str(value).replace("|", r"\|")
+
         # Add header row
-        markdown_table.append("| " + " | ".join(rows[0]) + " |")
+        markdown_table.append(
+            "| " + " | ".join(_escape_cell(c) for c in rows[0]) + " |"
+        )
 
         # Add separator row
-        markdown_table.append("| " + " | ".join(["---"] * len(rows[0])) + " |")
+        markdown_table.append(
+            "| " + " | ".join(["---"] * len(rows[0])) + " |"
+        )
 
         # Add data rows
         for row in rows[1:]:
-            # Make sure row has the same number of columns as header
+            # Pad short rows
             while len(row) < len(rows[0]):
                 row.append("")
-            # Truncate if row has more columns than header
+
+            # Trim extra columns
             row = row[: len(rows[0])]
-            markdown_table.append("| " + " | ".join(row) + " |")
+
+            markdown_table.append(
+                "| " + " | ".join(_escape_cell(c) for c in row) + " |"
+            )
 
         result = "\n".join(markdown_table)
 
-        return DocumentConverterResult(markdown=result)
+        return DocumentConverterResult(markdown=result)
\ No newline at end of file