diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/io/file/PathUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/io/file/PathUtils.java
index 6a9718c4c07..92672c10f91 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/io/file/PathUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/io/file/PathUtils.java
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ private static boolean equalsIgnoreFileSystem(final Path path1, final Path path2
 
         static String extractKey(final String separator, final String string) {
             // Replace the file separator in a path string with a string that is not legal in a path on Windows, Linux, and macOS.
-            return string.replaceAll("\\" + separator, ">");
+            return string.replace(separator, ">");
         }
 
         final boolean equals;