diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/StaticHtmlGenerator.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/StaticHtmlGenerator.java
index 573f29abc8f8..7386270d3f3c 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/StaticHtmlGenerator.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/StaticHtmlGenerator.java
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@
 
 import java.util.*;
 
+import static org.openapitools.codegen.utils.StringUtils.escape;
+
 public class StaticHtmlGenerator extends DefaultCodegen implements CodegenConfig {
     protected String invokerPackage = "org.openapitools.client";
     protected String groupId = "org.openapitools";
@@ -176,6 +178,19 @@ public String toModelName(final String name) {
         return name;
     }
 
+    // DefaultCodegen converts snake_case property names to snakeUnderscorecase
+    // but for static HTML, we want to preserve snake_case names
+    @Override
+    public String toVarName(String name) {
+        if (reservedWords.contains(name)) {
+            return escapeReservedWord(name);
+        } else if (((CharSequence) name).chars().anyMatch(character -> specialCharReplacements.keySet().contains("" + ((char) character)))) {
+            return escape(name, specialCharReplacements, Arrays.asList("_"), null);
+        } else {
+            return name;
+        }
+    }
+
     public void preprocessOpenAPI(OpenAPI openAPI) {
         Info info = openAPI.getInfo();
         info.setDescription(toHtml(info.getDescription()));
diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/html/StaticHtmlGeneratorTest.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/html/StaticHtmlGeneratorTest.java
index ca5f8da5fd9e..8a3ee3473d05 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/html/StaticHtmlGeneratorTest.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/html/StaticHtmlGeneratorTest.java
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 import io.swagger.v3.oas.models.media.Schema;
 import io.swagger.v3.oas.models.media.StringSchema;
 import org.openapitools.codegen.CodegenModel;
+import org.openapitools.codegen.CodegenProperty;
+import org.openapitools.codegen.DefaultCodegen;
 import org.openapitools.codegen.TestUtils;
 import org.openapitools.codegen.languages.StaticHtmlGenerator;
 import org.testng.Assert;
@@ -54,4 +56,18 @@ public void testSpecWithoutSchema() throws Exception {
         Assert.assertEquals(openAPI.getInfo().getTitle(), "ping test");
     }
 
+    @Test(description = "ensure that snake_case propery names wont be converted to snakeUnderscorecase")
+    public void testFromPropertyWithUnderscores() {
+        final Schema schema = new Schema()
+            .description("a sample model with property containing an underscore")
+            .addProperties("favorite_food", new StringSchema());
+        final OpenAPI openAPI = TestUtils.createOpenAPIWithOneSchema("UnderscoreTest", schema);
+        final DefaultCodegen codegen = new StaticHtmlGenerator();
+        codegen.setOpenAPI(openAPI);
+
+        CodegenProperty property = codegen.fromProperty("favorite_food", (Schema) openAPI.getComponents().getSchemas().get("UnderscoreTest").getProperties().get("favorite_food"));
+
+        Assert.assertEquals(property.baseName, "favorite_food");
+        Assert.assertEquals(property.name, "favorite_food");
+    }
 }