diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 6a6f33dcb..a3650477a 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 * `conjunct_test_linter()` also lints usage like `dplyr::filter(x, A & B)` in favor of using `dplyr::filter(x, A, B)` (part of #884, @MichaelChirico).
 * `sort_linter()` checks for code like `x == sort(x)` which is better served by using the function `is.unsorted()` (part of #884, @MichaelChirico).
 * `paste_linter()` gains detection for file paths that are better constructed with `file.path()`, e.g. `paste0(dir, "/", file)` would be better as `file.path(dir, file)` (part of #884, @MichaelChirico).
+* `fixed_regex_linter()` gains an option `allow_unescaped` (default `FALSE`) to toggle linting regexes not requiring any escapes or character classes (#1689, @MichaelChirico). Thus `fixed_regex_linter(allow_unescaped = TRUE)` would lint on `grepl("[$]", x)` but not on `grepl("a", x)` since the latter does not use any regex special characters.
 
 ### New linters
 
diff --git a/R/fixed_regex_linter.R b/R/fixed_regex_linter.R
index 6b28e6dc1..40f43c1c9 100644
--- a/R/fixed_regex_linter.R
+++ b/R/fixed_regex_linter.R
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 #'   likely cases. It should _never_ report false positives, however; please
 #'   report false positives as an error.
 #'
+#' @param allow_unescaped Logical, default `FALSE`. If `TRUE`, only patterns that
+#'   require regex escapes (e.g. `"\\$"` or `"[$]"`) will be linted. See examples.
 #' @examples
 #' # will produce lints
 #' code_lines <- 'gsub("\\\\.", "", x)'
@@ -24,6 +26,11 @@
 #'   linters = fixed_regex_linter()
 #' )
 #'
+#' lint(
+#'   text = 'grepl("a[*]b", x)',
+#'   linters = fixed_regex_linter(allow_unescaped = TRUE)
+#' )
+#'
 #' code_lines <- 'stringr::str_subset(x, "\\\\$")'
 #' writeLines(code_lines)
 #' lint(
@@ -59,10 +66,15 @@
 #'   linters = fixed_regex_linter()
 #' )
 #'
+#' lint(
+#'   text = 'grepl("Munich", address)',
+#'   linters = fixed_regex_linter(allow_unescaped = TRUE)
+#' )
+#'
 #' @evalRd rd_tags("fixed_regex_linter")
 #' @seealso [linters] for a complete list of linters available in lintr.
 #' @export
-fixed_regex_linter <- function() {
+fixed_regex_linter <- function(allow_unescaped = FALSE) {
   # regular expression pattern is the first argument
   pos_1_regex_funs <- xp_text_in_table(c(
     "grep", "gsub", "sub", "regexec", "grepl", "regexpr", "gregexpr"
@@ -116,7 +128,7 @@ fixed_regex_linter <- function() {
 
     patterns <- xml_find_all(xml, xpath)
     pattern_strings <- get_r_string(patterns)
-    is_static <- is_not_regex(pattern_strings)
+    is_static <- is_not_regex(pattern_strings, allow_unescaped)
 
     fixed_equivalent <- encodeString(get_fixed_string(pattern_strings[is_static]), quote = '"', justify = "none")
     call_name <- xml_find_chr(patterns[is_static], "string(preceding-sibling::expr[last()]/SYMBOL_FUNCTION_CALL)")
diff --git a/R/shared_constants.R b/R/shared_constants.R
index cc7f3170a..c22877969 100644
--- a/R/shared_constants.R
+++ b/R/shared_constants.R
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ rx_static_token <- local({
   ))
 })
 
+rx_unescaped_regex <- paste0("(?s)", rex(start, zero_or_more(rx_non_active_char), end))
 rx_static_regex <- paste0("(?s)", rex(start, zero_or_more(rx_static_token), end))
 rx_first_static_token <- paste0("(?s)", rex(start, zero_or_more(rx_non_active_char), rx_static_escape))
 
@@ -47,9 +48,13 @@ rx_first_static_token <- paste0("(?s)", rex(start, zero_or_more(rx_non_active_ch
 #' @return A logical vector, `TRUE` wherever `str` could be replaced by a
 #'   string with `fixed = TRUE`.
 #' @noRd
-is_not_regex <- function(str) {
+is_not_regex <- function(str, allow_unescaped = FALSE) {
   # need to add single-line option to allow literal newlines
-  grepl(rx_static_regex, str, perl = TRUE)
+  if (allow_unescaped) {
+    !grepl(rx_unescaped_regex, str, perl = TRUE)
+  } else {
+    grepl(rx_static_regex, str, perl = TRUE)
+  }
 }
 
 #' Compute a fixed string equivalent to a static regular expression
diff --git a/inst/lintr/linters.csv b/inst/lintr/linters.csv
index 87cd1d83a..5ffd2e6c5 100644
--- a/inst/lintr/linters.csv
+++ b/inst/lintr/linters.csv
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ expect_s4_class_linter,package_development best_practices pkg_testthat
 expect_true_false_linter,package_development best_practices readability pkg_testthat
 expect_type_linter,package_development best_practices pkg_testthat
 extraction_operator_linter,style best_practices
-fixed_regex_linter,best_practices readability efficiency
+fixed_regex_linter,best_practices readability efficiency configurable
 for_loop_index_linter,best_practices readability robustness
 function_argument_linter,style consistency best_practices
 function_left_parentheses_linter,style readability default
diff --git a/man/configurable_linters.Rd b/man/configurable_linters.Rd
index 3fe755c90..5e4ea4f91 100644
--- a/man/configurable_linters.Rd
+++ b/man/configurable_linters.Rd
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ The following linters are tagged with 'configurable':
 \item{\code{\link{conjunct_test_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{cyclocomp_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{duplicate_argument_linter}}}
+\item{\code{\link{fixed_regex_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{implicit_assignment_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{implicit_integer_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{indentation_linter}}}
diff --git a/man/fixed_regex_linter.Rd b/man/fixed_regex_linter.Rd
index 044d9d179..62121b2ea 100644
--- a/man/fixed_regex_linter.Rd
+++ b/man/fixed_regex_linter.Rd
@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@
 \alias{fixed_regex_linter}
 \title{Require usage of \code{fixed=TRUE} in regular expressions where appropriate}
 \usage{
-fixed_regex_linter()
+fixed_regex_linter(allow_unescaped = FALSE)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{allow_unescaped}{Logical, default \code{FALSE}. If \code{TRUE}, only patterns that
+require regex escapes (e.g. \code{"\\\\$"} or \code{"[$]"}) will be linted. See examples.}
 }
 \description{
 Invoking a regular expression engine is overkill for cases when the search
@@ -32,6 +36,11 @@ lint(
   linters = fixed_regex_linter()
 )
 
+lint(
+  text = 'grepl("a[*]b", x)',
+  linters = fixed_regex_linter(allow_unescaped = TRUE)
+)
+
 code_lines <- 'stringr::str_subset(x, "\\\\\\\\$")'
 writeLines(code_lines)
 lint(
@@ -67,10 +76,15 @@ lint(
   linters = fixed_regex_linter()
 )
 
+lint(
+  text = 'grepl("Munich", address)',
+  linters = fixed_regex_linter(allow_unescaped = TRUE)
+)
+
 }
 \seealso{
 \link{linters} for a complete list of linters available in lintr.
 }
 \section{Tags}{
-\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices}, \link[=efficiency_linters]{efficiency}, \link[=readability_linters]{readability}
+\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices}, \link[=configurable_linters]{configurable}, \link[=efficiency_linters]{efficiency}, \link[=readability_linters]{readability}
 }
diff --git a/man/linters.Rd b/man/linters.Rd
index 1c9caf64a..2945b4236 100644
--- a/man/linters.Rd
+++ b/man/linters.Rd
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ The following tags exist:
 \itemize{
 \item{\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices} (52 linters)}
 \item{\link[=common_mistakes_linters]{common_mistakes} (7 linters)}
-\item{\link[=configurable_linters]{configurable} (29 linters)}
+\item{\link[=configurable_linters]{configurable} (30 linters)}
 \item{\link[=consistency_linters]{consistency} (20 linters)}
 \item{\link[=correctness_linters]{correctness} (7 linters)}
 \item{\link[=default_linters]{default} (25 linters)}
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ The following linters exist:
 \item{\code{\link{expect_true_false_linter}} (tags: best_practices, package_development, pkg_testthat, readability)}
 \item{\code{\link{expect_type_linter}} (tags: best_practices, package_development, pkg_testthat)}
 \item{\code{\link{extraction_operator_linter}} (tags: best_practices, style)}
-\item{\code{\link{fixed_regex_linter}} (tags: best_practices, efficiency, readability)}
+\item{\code{\link{fixed_regex_linter}} (tags: best_practices, configurable, efficiency, readability)}
 \item{\code{\link{for_loop_index_linter}} (tags: best_practices, readability, robustness)}
 \item{\code{\link{function_argument_linter}} (tags: best_practices, consistency, style)}
 \item{\code{\link{function_left_parentheses_linter}} (tags: default, readability, style)}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-fixed_regex_linter.R b/tests/testthat/test-fixed_regex_linter.R
index 535912bec..e00b32ff7 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-fixed_regex_linter.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-fixed_regex_linter.R
@@ -345,3 +345,11 @@ patrick::with_parameters_test_that("fixed replacements are correct", {
   "[\\xa]",               "[\\xa]",               "\\n"
 ))
 # styler: on
+
+test_that("'unescaped' regex can optionally be skipped", {
+  linter <- fixed_regex_linter(allow_unescaped = TRUE)
+
+  expect_lint("grepl('a', x)", NULL, linter)
+  expect_lint("str_detect(x, 'a')", NULL, linter)
+  expect_lint("grepl('[$]', x)", rex::rex('Here, you can use "$"'), linter)
+})