diff --git a/doc/site/values.markdown b/doc/site/values.markdown
index 5700f2dcf..b2cf2136c 100644
--- a/doc/site/values.markdown
+++ b/doc/site/values.markdown
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ A handful of escape characters are supported:
 "\%" // A percent sign.
 "\a" // Alarm beep. (Who uses this?)
 "\b" // Backspace.
+"\e" // ESC character.
 "\f" // Formfeed.
 "\n" // Newline.
 "\r" // Carriage return.
diff --git a/src/vm/wren_compiler.c b/src/vm/wren_compiler.c
index 6e6444e74..bd153e92e 100644
--- a/src/vm/wren_compiler.c
+++ b/src/vm/wren_compiler.c
@@ -977,6 +977,7 @@ static void readString(Parser* parser)
         case '0':  wrenByteBufferWrite(parser->vm, &string, '\0'); break;
         case 'a':  wrenByteBufferWrite(parser->vm, &string, '\a'); break;
         case 'b':  wrenByteBufferWrite(parser->vm, &string, '\b'); break;
+        case 'e':  wrenByteBufferWrite(parser->vm, &string, '\33'); break;
         case 'f':  wrenByteBufferWrite(parser->vm, &string, '\f'); break;
         case 'n':  wrenByteBufferWrite(parser->vm, &string, '\n'); break;
         case 'r':  wrenByteBufferWrite(parser->vm, &string, '\r'); break;