diff --git a/ark/type/__tests__/regex.test.ts b/ark/type/__tests__/regex.test.ts
index 3739201289..75e97085db 100644
--- a/ark/type/__tests__/regex.test.ts
+++ b/ark/type/__tests__/regex.test.ts
@@ -106,4 +106,39 @@ contextualize(() => {
 			}>
 		>(T)
 	})
+
+	describe("escaped backslash", () => {
+		// note: in a TS string, "\\\\d" is two literal backslashes followed by
+		// "d", i.e. the four characters `\`, `\`, `d` reach the parser, which is
+		// the regex source for a literal backslash + "d" (not the digit class)
+		it("string literal matches RegExp instance", () => {
+			const FromString = type("/^\\\\d$/")
+			const FromInstance = type(/^\\d$/)
+			attest(FromString.json).equals(FromInstance.json)
+		})
+
+		it("preserves literal backslash", () => {
+			const T = type("/^\\\\d$/")
+			attest(T.allows("\\d")).equals(true)
+			attest(T.allows("5")).equals(false)
+		})
+
+		it("lone escaped backslash", () => {
+			const T = type("/^\\\\$/")
+			attest(T.allows("\\")).equals(true)
+		})
+
+		it("single-backslash class still works", () => {
+			// "\\d" is a single backslash + "d", i.e. the digit-class metachar
+			const T = type("/^\\d+$/")
+			attest(T.allows("123")).equals(true)
+			attest(T.allows("abc")).equals(false)
+		})
+
+		it("escaped terminator preserved", () => {
+			const T = type("/^a\\/b$/")
+			attest(T.json).snap({ domain: "string", pattern: ["^a/b$"] })
+			attest(T.allows("a/b")).equals(true)
+		})
+	})
 })
diff --git a/ark/type/parser/shift/operand/enclosed.ts b/ark/type/parser/shift/operand/enclosed.ts
index e673c746e4..a3c2a34e2b 100644
--- a/ark/type/parser/shift/operand/enclosed.ts
+++ b/ark/type/parser/shift/operand/enclosed.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { rootSchema } from "@ark/schema"
 import {
+	Backslash,
 	isKeyOf,
 	throwParseError,
 	type ErrorMessage,
@@ -36,7 +37,11 @@ export const parseEnclosed = (
 	enclosing: EnclosingStartToken
 ): void => {
 	const enclosed = s.scanner.shiftUntilEscapable(
-		untilLookaheadIsClosing[enclosingTokens[enclosing]]
+		untilLookaheadIsClosing[enclosingTokens[enclosing]],
+		// within a regex literal, `\\` is a literal backslash and must be
+		// preserved verbatim in the pattern source; collapsing it to a single
+		// backslash would corrupt the regex (e.g. `\\d` -> `\d` digit class)
+		enclosing in enclosingRegexTokens ? Backslash : ""
 	)
 	if (s.scanner.lookahead === "")
 		return s.error(writeUnterminatedEnclosedMessage(enclosed, enclosing))
@@ -84,7 +89,7 @@ export type parseEnclosed<
 	Scanner.shiftUntilEscapable<
 		unscanned,
 		EnclosingTokens[enclosingStart],
-		""
+		enclosingStart extends EnclosingRegexToken ? Backslash : ""
 	> extends Scanner.shiftResult<infer scanned, infer nextUnscanned> ?
 		_parseEnclosed<s, enclosingStart, scanned, nextUnscanned>
 	:	never
diff --git a/ark/util/scanner.ts b/ark/util/scanner.ts
index 2c62061834..01cbcc6d35 100644
--- a/ark/util/scanner.ts
+++ b/ark/util/scanner.ts
@@ -38,13 +38,17 @@ export class Scanner<lookahead extends string = string> {
 		return shifted
 	}
 
-	shiftUntilEscapable(condition: Scanner.UntilCondition): string {
+	shiftUntilEscapable(
+		condition: Scanner.UntilCondition,
+		escapeEscape: typeof Backslash | "" = ""
+	): string {
 		let shifted = ""
 		while (this.lookahead) {
 			if (this.lookahead === Backslash) {
 				this.shift()
 				if (condition(this, shifted)) shifted += this.shift()
-				else if (this.lookahead === Backslash) shifted += this.shift()
+				else if (this.lookahead === Backslash)
+					shifted += `${escapeEscape}${this.shift()}`
 				else shifted += `${Backslash}${this.shift()}`
 			} else if (condition(this, shifted)) break
 			else shifted += this.shift()