diff --git a/json-path-assert/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonassert/JsonAssertTest.java b/json-path-assert/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonassert/JsonAssertTest.java
index 9889e64b..63b8996c 100644
--- a/json-path-assert/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonassert/JsonAssertTest.java
+++ b/json-path-assert/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonassert/JsonAssertTest.java
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ public class JsonAssertTest {
                     "      \"price\": 19.95\n," +
                     "      \"gears\": [23, 50]\n," +
                     "      \"extra\": {\"x\": 0}\n," +
+                    "      \"escape\" : \"Esc\\b\\f\\n\\r\\t\\u002A\",\n" +
                     "      \"nullValue\": null\n" +
                     "    }\n" +
                     "  }\n" +
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ public class JsonAssertTest {
         with(JSON).assertThat("$.store.bicycle[?(@.gears == [23, 50])]", is(collectionWithSize(equalTo(1))));
         with(JSON).assertThat("$.store.bicycle[?(@.gears == [23, 77])]", is(collectionWithSize(equalTo(0))));
         with(JSON).assertThat("$.store.bicycle[?(@.extra == {\"x\":0})]", is(collectionWithSize(equalTo(1))));
+        with(JSON).assertThat("$.store.bicycle[?(@.escape == 'Esc\\b\\f\\n\\r\\t\\u002A')]", is(collectionWithSize(equalTo(1))));
     }
 
     @Test(expected = AssertionError.class)
diff --git a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/Criteria.java b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/Criteria.java
index bc7af80c..28c75744 100644
--- a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/Criteria.java
+++ b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/Criteria.java
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ public class Criteria implements Predicate {
             CriteriaType.GT.toString(),
             CriteriaType.REGEX.toString()
     };
+    private static final char BS = '\\';
 
     private Object left;
     private CriteriaType criteriaType;
@@ -844,6 +845,38 @@ public class Criteria implements Predicate {
         return safeCompare(left, right, null);
     }
 
+    private static String unescape(String s) {
+        if (s.indexOf(BS) == - 1)
+            return s;
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(s.length());
+        for (int i = 0; i < s.length(); i++) {
+            char c = s.charAt(i);
+            if (c == BS) {
+                char c2 = s.charAt(++i);
+                switch (c2) {
+                    case 'b': c2 = '\b'; break;
+                    case 'f': c2 = '\f'; break;
+                    case 'n': c2 = '\n'; break;
+                    case 'r': c2 = '\r'; break;
+                    case 't': c2 = '\t'; break;
+                    case 'u':
+                        try {
+                            String hex = s.substring(i + 1, i + 5);
+                            c2 = (char)Integer.parseInt(hex, 16);
+                            i += 4;
+                        } catch (Exception e) {
+                            throw new ValueCompareException("\\u parse failed", e);
+                        }
+                        break;
+                }
+                sb.append(c2);
+            } else {
+                sb.append(c);
+            }
+        }
+        return sb.toString();
+    }
+
     private static int safeCompare(Object left, Object right, PredicateContext ctx) throws ValueCompareException {
 
         if (left == right) {
@@ -860,11 +893,8 @@ public class Criteria implements Predicate {
         } else if (leftNullish && rightNullish) {
             return 0;
         } else if (left instanceof String && right instanceof String) {
-            String exp = (String) left;
-            if (exp.contains("\'")) {
-                exp = exp.replace("\\'", "'");
-            }
-            return exp.compareTo((String) right);
+            String expected = unescape((String) left);
+            return expected.compareTo((String) right);
         } else if (left instanceof Number && right instanceof Number) {
             return new BigDecimal(left.toString()).compareTo(new BigDecimal(right.toString()));
         } else if (left instanceof String && right instanceof Number) {
diff --git a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/ValueCompareException.java b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/ValueCompareException.java
index 862ae13a..b9cffccb 100644
--- a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/ValueCompareException.java
+++ b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/ValueCompareException.java
@@ -15,4 +15,16 @@
 package com.jayway.jsonpath;
 
 public class ValueCompareException extends JsonPathException {
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+
+    public ValueCompareException() {
+    }
+
+    public ValueCompareException(String message) {
+        super(message);
+    }
+
+    public ValueCompareException(String message, Throwable cause) {
+        super(message, cause);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/BaseTest.java b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/BaseTest.java
index 21fa0e53..ababb1e0 100644
--- a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/BaseTest.java
+++ b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/BaseTest.java
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ public class BaseTest {
             "      ],\n" +
             "      \"bicycle\" : {\n" +
             "         \"foo\" : \"baz\",\n" +
+            "         \"escape\" : \"Esc\\b\\f\\n\\r\\t\\n\\t\\u002A\",\n" +
             "         \"color\" : \"red\",\n" +
             "         \"display-price\" : 19.95,\n" +
             "         \"foo:bar\" : \"fooBar\",\n" +
diff --git a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/InlineFilterTest.java b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/InlineFilterTest.java
index 2f8cd215..f56c0d02 100644
--- a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/InlineFilterTest.java
+++ b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/InlineFilterTest.java
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 public class InlineFilterTest extends BaseTest {
 
     private static ReadContext reader = JsonPath.parse(JSON_DOCUMENT);
+    private static int bookCount = 4;
 
     @Test
     public void root_context_can_be_referred_in_predicate() {
@@ -23,13 +24,13 @@ public class InlineFilterTest extends BaseTest {
     public void multiple_context_object_can_be_refered() {
 
         List all = reader.read("store.book[ ?(@.category == @.category) ]", List.class);
-        assertThat(all.size()).isEqualTo(4);
+        assertThat(all.size()).isEqualTo(bookCount);
 
         List all2 = reader.read("store.book[ ?(@.category == @['category']) ]", List.class);
-        assertThat(all2.size()).isEqualTo(4);
+        assertThat(all2.size()).isEqualTo(bookCount);
 
         List all3 = reader.read("store.book[ ?(@ == @) ]", List.class);
-        assertThat(all3.size()).isEqualTo(4);
+        assertThat(all3.size()).isEqualTo(bookCount);
 
         List none = reader.read("store.book[ ?(@.category != @.category) ]", List.class);
         assertThat(none.size()).isEqualTo(0);