diff --git a/doc/management.txt b/doc/management.txt
index c8ba0e379..dd886dec7 100644
--- a/doc/management.txt
+++ b/doc/management.txt
@@ -1249,8 +1249,8 @@ example :
 
     # echo "show info;show stat;show table" | socat /var/run/haproxy stdio
 
-If a command needs to use a semi-colon (eg: in a value), it must be preceeded
-by a backslash ('\').
+If a command needs to use a semi-colon or a backslash (eg: in a value), it
+must be preceeded by a backslash ('\').
 
 The interactive mode displays a prompt ('>') and waits for commands to be
 entered on the line, then processes them, and displays the prompt again to wait
diff --git a/src/cli.c b/src/cli.c
index 239a505ad..a1923bc4e 100644
--- a/src/cli.c
+++ b/src/cli.c
@@ -434,13 +434,17 @@ static int cli_parse_request(struct appctx *appctx, char *line)
 	while (++arg <= MAX_STATS_ARGS)
 		args[arg] = line;
 
-	/* remove \ */
+	/* unescape '\' */
 	arg = 0;
 	while (*args[arg] != '\0') {
 		j = 0;
 		for (i=0; args[arg][i] != '\0'; i++) {
-			if (args[arg][i] == '\\')
-				continue;
+			if (args[arg][i] == '\\') {
+				if (args[arg][i+1] == '\\')
+					i++;
+				else
+					continue;
+			}
 			args[arg][j] = args[arg][i];
 			j++;
 		}