diff --git a/cypress/e2e/secure-option-values.cy.ts b/cypress/e2e/secure-option-values.cy.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f1ed9ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cypress/e2e/secure-option-values.cy.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+describe('Secure option values', () => {
+  const existingValueMountId = 'vs-secure-existing-value';
+  const newValueMountId = 'vs-secure-new-value';
+
+  it('preserves the original value in the hidden form input', () => {
+    cy.visit('get-started');
+
+    cy.window().then((win) => {
+      const $ele = win.document.createElement('div');
+      $ele.id = existingValueMountId;
+      win.document.body.appendChild($ele);
+
+      // @ts-expect-error - VirtualSelect is attached to window by the bundle
+      win.VirtualSelect.init({
+        ele: $ele,
+        enableSecureText: true,
+        multiple: true,
+        setValueAsArray: true,
+        options: [{ value: '<', label: 'Value with unsafe char <' }],
+      });
+    });
+
+    cy.get(`#${existingValueMountId}`).find('.vscomp-toggle-button').click();
+    cy.get(`#${existingValueMountId}`).find('.vscomp-option').click();
+
+    cy.get(`#${existingValueMountId}`).find('.vscomp-hidden-input').should('have.value', '["<"]');
+    cy.get(`#${existingValueMountId}`).find('.vscomp-option-text').should('contain.text', 'Value with unsafe char <');
+  });
+
+  it('preserves new values without inserting their markup', () => {
+    const payload = '"><img src=x onerror="window.__vsValueXss=true">';
+
+    cy.visit('get-started');
+
+    cy.window().then((win) => {
+      const $ele = win.document.createElement('div');
+      $ele.id = newValueMountId;
+      win.document.body.appendChild($ele);
+
+      // @ts-expect-error - VirtualSelect is attached to window by the bundle
+      win.VirtualSelect.init({
+        ele: $ele,
+        allowNewOption: true,
+        enableSecureText: true,
+        multiple: true,
+        setValueAsArray: true,
+        options: [],
+      });
+
+      // @ts-expect-error - setValue is attached to the initialized element
+      $ele.setValue([payload]);
+    });
+
+    cy.get(`#${newValueMountId}`).find('.vscomp-hidden-input').should('have.value', JSON.stringify([payload]));
+    cy.get(`#${newValueMountId}`).find('img').should('not.exist');
+    cy.window().its('__vsValueXss').should('be.undefined');
+  });
+});