diff --git a/src/compiler/utilities.ts b/src/compiler/utilities.ts
index 2c6f8b70a34b1..9b302a9e5222b 100644
--- a/src/compiler/utilities.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/utilities.ts
@@ -3441,7 +3441,7 @@ namespace ts {
     const doubleQuoteEscapedCharsRegExp = /[\\\"\u0000-\u001f\t\v\f\b\r\n\u2028\u2029\u0085]/g;
     const singleQuoteEscapedCharsRegExp = /[\\\'\u0000-\u001f\t\v\f\b\r\n\u2028\u2029\u0085]/g;
     // Template strings should be preserved as much as possible
-    const backtickQuoteEscapedCharsRegExp = /[\\\`]/g;
+    const backtickQuoteEscapedCharsRegExp = /[\\`]/g;
     const escapedCharsMap = createMapFromTemplate({
         "\t": "\\t",
         "\v": "\\v",
diff --git a/src/services/refactors/convertStringOrTemplateLiteral.ts b/src/services/refactors/convertStringOrTemplateLiteral.ts
index 58a62a77d7e3c..bfa398109e59a 100644
--- a/src/services/refactors/convertStringOrTemplateLiteral.ts
+++ b/src/services/refactors/convertStringOrTemplateLiteral.ts
@@ -134,7 +134,6 @@ namespace ts.refactor.convertStringOrTemplateLiteral {
             index++;
         }
 
-        text = escapeString(text);
         return [index, text, indexes];
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/cases/fourslash/refactorConvertStringOrTemplateLiteral_escapedBackslashes.ts b/tests/cases/fourslash/refactorConvertStringOrTemplateLiteral_escapedBackslashes.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..6025107ff0321
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/cases/fourslash/refactorConvertStringOrTemplateLiteral_escapedBackslashes.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+/// <reference path='fourslash.ts' />
+
+//// console.log(/*0*/"\\[[" + text + "](" + link + ")\\]"/*1*/)
+
+goTo.select("0", "1");
+edit.applyRefactor({
+    refactorName: "Convert to template string",
+    actionName: "Convert to template string",
+    actionDescription: ts.Diagnostics.Convert_to_template_string.message,
+    // Four backslashes here
+    //   = two backslashes in the expected file content
+    //   = one backslash in the string data sent to console.log
+    //     (which is the same as what the user started with)
+    newContent: 'console.log(`\\\\[[${text}](${link})\\\\]`)',
+});