diff --git a/src/common/strconv.cpp b/src/common/strconv.cpp
index 20ff6f49ef..9df03b339f 100644
--- a/src/common/strconv.cpp
+++ b/src/common/strconv.cpp
@@ -647,6 +647,15 @@ size_t wxMBConvUTF8::MB2WC(wchar_t *buf, const char *psz, size_t n) const
             if (buf)
                 *buf++ = cc;
             len++;
+
+            // escape the escape character for octal escapes
+            if ((m_options & MAP_INVALID_UTF8_TO_OCTAL)
+                    && cc == '\\' && (!buf || len < n))
+            {
+                if (buf)
+                    *buf++ = cc;
+                len++;
+            }
         }
         else
         {
@@ -784,6 +793,14 @@ size_t wxMBConvUTF8::WC2MB(char *buf, const wchar_t *psz, size_t n) const
                 *buf++ = (char)(cc - wxUnicodePUA);
             len++;
         }
+        else if ( (m_options & MAP_INVALID_UTF8_TO_OCTAL)
+                    && cc == L'\\' && psz[0] == L'\\' )
+        {
+            if (buf)
+                *buf++ = (char)cc;
+            psz++;
+            len++;
+        }
         else if ( (m_options & MAP_INVALID_UTF8_TO_OCTAL) &&
                     cc == L'\\' &&
                         isoctal(psz[0]) && isoctal(psz[1]) && isoctal(psz[2]) )