diff --git a/Common/font/fonts.cpp b/Common/font/fonts.cpp
index 116469412d5..837c5d162e2 100644
--- a/Common/font/fonts.cpp
+++ b/Common/font/fonts.cpp
@@ -370,40 +370,6 @@ int get_text_lines_surf_height(size_t fontNumber, size_t numlines)
 
 namespace AGS { namespace Common { SplitLines Lines; } }
 
-// Replaces AGS-specific linebreak tags with common '\n'
-static void unescape_script_string(const char *cstr, std::string &out)
-{
-    out.clear();
-    // Handle the special case of the first char
-    if (cstr[0] == '[')
-    {
-        out.push_back('\n');
-        cstr++;
-    }
-    // Replace all other occurrences as they're found
-    // NOTE: we do not need to decode utf8 here, because
-    // we are only searching for low-code ascii chars.
-    const char *off;
-    for (off = cstr; *off; ++off)
-    {
-        if (*off != '[') continue;
-        if (*(off - 1) == '\\')
-        {
-            // convert \[ into [
-            out.insert(out.end(), cstr, off - 1);
-            out.push_back('[');
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            // convert [ into \n
-            out.insert(out.end(), cstr, off);
-            out.push_back('\n');
-        }
-        cstr = off + 1;
-    }
-    out.insert(out.end(), cstr, off + 1);
-}
-
 // Break up the text into lines
 size_t split_lines(const char *todis, SplitLines &lines, int wii, int fonnt, size_t max_lines) {
     // NOTE: following hack accomodates for the legacy math mistake in split_lines.
@@ -417,24 +383,19 @@ size_t split_lines(const char *todis, SplitLines &lines, int wii, int fonnt, siz
 
     lines.Reset();
 
-    std::string &line_buf = lines.LineBuf[0];
-    std::string &test_buf = lines.LineBuf[1];
-
-    // Do all necessary preliminary conversions: unescape, etc
-    unescape_script_string(todis, line_buf);
+    std::string &test_buf = lines.LineBuf[0];
 
     // TODO: we NEED a proper utf8 string class, and refact all this mess!!
     // in this case we perhaps could use custom ITERATOR types that read
     // and write utf8 chars in std::strings or similar containers.
     test_buf.clear();
-    const char *end_ptr = &line_buf.back(); // buffer end ptr
-    const char *theline = &line_buf.front(); // sub-line ptr
+    const char *theline = todis; // sub-line ptr
     const char *scan_ptr = theline; // a moving scan pos
     const char *prev_ptr = scan_ptr; // previous scan pos
     const char *last_whitespace = nullptr; // last found whitespace
 
     while (true) {
-        if (scan_ptr == end_ptr) {
+        if (*scan_ptr == 0) {
             // end of the text, add the last line if necessary
             if (scan_ptr > theline) {
                 lines.Add(test_buf.c_str());
diff --git a/Compiler/script/cc_compiledscript.cpp b/Compiler/script/cc_compiledscript.cpp
index f59f2c92851..99aa5e413a0 100644
--- a/Compiler/script/cc_compiledscript.cpp
+++ b/Compiler/script/cc_compiledscript.cpp
@@ -68,10 +68,6 @@ int ccCompiledScript::add_string(const char*strr) {
             ch = strr[src];
             if (ch == 'n') {ch = '\n';}
             else if (ch == 'r') {ch = '\r';}
-            else if (ch == '[') { // pass through as \[
-                *write_ptr = '\\';
-                write_ptr++;
-            }
         }
         *write_ptr = ch;
         write_ptr++;
diff --git a/Compiler/script2/cs_scanner.cpp b/Compiler/script2/cs_scanner.cpp
index 9b35204297f..8c3cb2bf02f 100644
--- a/Compiler/script2/cs_scanner.cpp
+++ b/Compiler/script2/cs_scanner.cpp
@@ -432,10 +432,6 @@ void AGS::Scanner::ReadInCharLit(std::string &symstring, CodeCell &value)
             if (Failed())
                 break; // to error processing
 
-            if ('[' == lit_char)
-                // "\\[" is equivalent to two characters, so can't be used as a single character
-                UserError("'\\[' is not allowed in single quotes, use '[' instead");
-
             EscapedChar2Char(lit_char, symstring, lit_char);
         }
 
@@ -557,16 +553,11 @@ void AGS::Scanner::ReadInStringLit(std::string &symstring, std::string &valstrin
             symstring.push_back(ch);
             if (EOFReached() || Failed() || '\n' == ch || '\r' == ch)
                 break; // to error msg
-            if ('[' == ch)
-            {
-                valstring.append("\\[");
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                int converted;
-                EscapedChar2Char(ch, symstring, converted);
-                valstring.push_back(converted);
-            }
+            
+            int converted;
+            EscapedChar2Char(ch, symstring, converted);
+            valstring.push_back(converted);
+
             continue;
         }
 
@@ -621,7 +612,7 @@ void AGS::Scanner::ReadInStringLit(std::string &symstring, std::string &valstrin
     else if (Failed())
         UserError("Read error while scanning a string literal (file corrupt?)");
     else  
-        UserError("Line ended within a string literal, this isn't allowed (use '[' for newline)");
+        UserError("Line ended within a string literal, this isn't allowed.");
 }
 
 void AGS::Scanner::ReadInIdentifier(std::string &symstring)
diff --git a/Compiler/test2/cc_scanner_test.cpp b/Compiler/test2/cc_scanner_test.cpp
index a1f81f70bb2..3933c55ab38 100644
--- a/Compiler/test2/cc_scanner_test.cpp
+++ b/Compiler/test2/cc_scanner_test.cpp
@@ -750,13 +750,13 @@ TEST_F(Scan, String1)
 {
     // Should scan advanced escape sequences within string.
 
-    std::string Input = "\"Oh, \\the \\brow\\n \\fo\\x5e jumps \\[ove\\r] the \\100\\azy dog.\"";
+    std::string Input = "\"Oh, \\the \\brow\\n \\fo\\x5e jumps [ove\\r] the \\100\\azy dog.\"";
     AGS::Scanner scanner(Input, token_list, string_collector, sym, mh);
 
     ASSERT_LE(0, scanner.GetNextSymstringT(symstring, sct, value));
     ASSERT_LE(0, value);
-    EXPECT_STREQ("Oh, \the \brow\n \fo^ jumps \\[ove\r] the @\azy dog.", &(string_collector.strings[value]));
-    EXPECT_STREQ("\"Oh, \\the \\brow\\n \\fo\\x5e jumps \\[ove\\r] the \\100\\azy dog.\"", symstring.c_str());
+    EXPECT_STREQ("Oh, \the \brow\n \fo^ jumps [ove\r] the @\azy dog.", &(string_collector.strings[value]));
+    EXPECT_STREQ("\"Oh, \\the \\brow\\n \\fo\\x5e jumps [ove\\r] the \\100\\azy dog.\"", symstring.c_str());
 }
 
 TEST_F(Scan, UnknownKeywordAfterReadonly) {