diff --git a/ClosedXML/Excel/PageSetup/XLHeaderFooter.cs b/ClosedXML/Excel/PageSetup/XLHeaderFooter.cs
index 77f37ff..21ae91e 100644
--- a/ClosedXML/Excel/PageSetup/XLHeaderFooter.cs
+++ b/ClosedXML/Excel/PageSetup/XLHeaderFooter.cs
@@ -80,13 +80,15 @@
 
         private static IEnumerable<ParsedHeaderFooterElement> ParseFormattedHeaderFooterText(string text)
         {
+            Func<int, bool> IsAtPositionIndicator = i => i < text.Length - 1 && text[i] == '&' && (new char[] { 'L', 'C', 'R' }.Contains(text[i + 1]));
+
             var parsedElements = new List<ParsedHeaderFooterElement>();
             var currentPosition = 'L'; // default is LEFT
             var hfElement = "";
 
             for (int i = 0; i < text.Length; i++)
             {
-                if (i < text.Length - 1 && text[i] == '&' && (new char[] { 'L', 'C', 'R' }.Contains(text[i + 1])))
+                if (IsAtPositionIndicator(i))
                 {
                     if ("" != hfElement) parsedElements.Add(new ParsedHeaderFooterElement()
                     {
@@ -99,7 +101,13 @@
                     hfElement = "";
                 }
 
-                hfElement += text[i];
+                if (i < text.Length)
+                {
+                    if (IsAtPositionIndicator(i))
+                        i--;
+                    else
+                        hfElement += text[i];
+                }
             }
 
             if ("" != hfElement)
diff --git a/ClosedXML_Tests/Excel/PageSetup/HeaderFooterTests.cs b/ClosedXML_Tests/Excel/PageSetup/HeaderFooterTests.cs
index 18fe221..002df23 100644
--- a/ClosedXML_Tests/Excel/PageSetup/HeaderFooterTests.cs
+++ b/ClosedXML_Tests/Excel/PageSetup/HeaderFooterTests.cs
@@ -33,5 +33,19 @@
             var newHeader = ws.PageSetup.Header.Center.GetText(XLHFOccurrence.EvenPages);
             Assert.AreEqual("Changed header", newHeader);
         }
+
+        [TestCase("")]
+        [TestCase("&L&C&\"Arial\"&9 19-10-2017 \n&9&\"Arial\" &P    &N &R")] // https://github.com/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/issues/563
+        public void CanSetHeaderFooter(string s)
+        {
+            using (var wb = new XLWorkbook())
+            {
+                var ws = wb.AddWorksheet("Sheet1");
+                {
+                    var header = ws.PageSetup.Header as XLHeaderFooter;
+                    header.SetInnerText(XLHFOccurrence.AllPages, s);
+                }
+            }
+        }
     }
 }