diff --git a/solventmapcreator/solvationcalculation/solvationmapgenerator.py b/solventmapcreator/solvationcalculation/solvationmapgenerator.py
index f12991019883b51725ec1fad5532733d87b8275a..b7afd6ef423c097feb90ae3b715034fd8adec141 100644
--- a/solventmapcreator/solvationcalculation/solvationmapgenerator.py
+++ b/solventmapcreator/solvationcalculation/solvationmapgenerator.py
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ def create_plot_input_data_from_files(epsilon_i_list, epsilon_j_list,
     theta = calculate_fractional_occupancy_for_phase(solvent_filename, solvent_id, kwargs.get("soluteconcentration", 0.001))
     polynomial_coefficients = parse_polynomial_data_file_extract_polynomial_coefficients(polynomial_filename, polynomial_order)
     temperature = kwargs.get("temperature", 298.0)
-    x_label = kwargs.get("x_label", r"\beta")
-    y_label = kwargs.get("y_label", r"\alpha")
+    x_label = kwargs.get("x_label", r"$\beta$")
+    y_label = kwargs.get("y_label", r"$\alpha$")
     input_data = create_plot_input_data(epsilon_i_list, epsilon_j_list,
                                         temperature, theta, polynomial_coefficients,
                                         x_label, y_label)
diff --git a/solventmapcreator/test/solvationcalculationtest/solvationmapgeneratortest.py b/solventmapcreator/test/solvationcalculationtest/solvationmapgeneratortest.py
index f31bf33432134a393876e0088c406801d9951611..931fccd106e8356080e6b0030f3781b0f2ffa7a2 100644
--- a/solventmapcreator/test/solvationcalculationtest/solvationmapgeneratortest.py
+++ b/solventmapcreator/test/solvationcalculationtest/solvationmapgeneratortest.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class SolvationMapGeneratorTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
                          'z_data':np.array([[-4.532289, -3.46086],
                                             [-3.46086, -1.671915],
                                             [-2.389432,  0.06058]]),
-                         "x_label":"\\beta", "y_label":"\\alpha",
+                         "x_label":"$\\beta$", "y_label":"$\\alpha$",
                          "plot_axis_range":(0.0, 2.0, 0.0, 1.0),
                          "figure_label":"water_solv_map"}
         actual_dict = solvationmapgenerator.create_plot_input_data_from_files(self.epsilon_i_list, self.epsilon_j_list,