diff --git a/src/compiler/parse_expr.c b/src/compiler/parse_expr.c
index e68a78797..14af8bf75 100644
--- a/src/compiler/parse_expr.c
+++ b/src/compiler/parse_expr.c
@@ -873,29 +873,10 @@ static int append_esc_string_token(char *restrict dest, const char *restrict src
 {
 	int scanned;
 	uint64_t unicode_char;
-	switch (src[0])
+	signed char scanned_char = is_valid_escape(src[0]);
+	if (scanned_char < 0) return -1;
+	switch (scanned_char)
 	{
-		case 'a':
-			dest[(*pos)++] = '\a';
-			return 1;
-		case 'b':
-			dest[(*pos)++] = '\b';
-			return 1;
-		case 'e':
-			dest[(*pos)++] = 0x1b;
-			return 1;
-		case 'f':
-			dest[(*pos)++] = '\f';
-			return 1;
-		case 'n':
-			dest[(*pos)++] = '\n';
-			return 1;
-		case 'r':
-			dest[(*pos)++] = '\r';
-			return 1;
-		case 't':
-			dest[(*pos)++] = '\t';
-			return 1;
 		case 'x':
 		{
 			int h = char_to_nibble(src[1]);
@@ -933,7 +914,7 @@ static int append_esc_string_token(char *restrict dest, const char *restrict src
 			break;
 		}
 		default:
-			dest[(*pos)++] = src[0];
+			dest[(*pos)++] = scanned_char;
 			return 1;
 	}
 	if (unicode_char < 0x80U)
diff --git a/src/utils/lib.h b/src/utils/lib.h
index da0c39113..892fb47ff 100644
--- a/src/utils/lib.h
+++ b/src/utils/lib.h
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ static inline bool is_hex_or_(char c)
 	}
 }
 
-static inline char is_valid_escape(char c)
+static inline signed char is_valid_escape(char c)
 {
 	switch (c)
 	{
diff --git a/test/test_suite/strings/string_escape.c3t b/test/test_suite/strings/string_escape.c3t
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e3456960d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_suite/strings/string_escape.c3t
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+func void main()
+{
+    char *s = "Hello\0 world!";
+}
+
+// #expect: string_escape.ll
+
+@.str = private constant [14 x i8] c"Hello\00 world!\00", align 1
+
+define void @main()
+entry:
+  %s = alloca i8*, align 8
+  store i8* getelementptr inbounds ([14 x i8], [14 x i8]* @.str, i32 0, i32 0), i8** %s, align 8
+  ret void