diff --git a/modules/database/src/ioc/dbStatic/dbLex.l b/modules/database/src/ioc/dbStatic/dbLex.l
index dd9dc8987..4d961975b 100644
--- a/modules/database/src/ioc/dbStatic/dbLex.l
+++ b/modules/database/src/ioc/dbStatic/dbLex.l
@@ -20,10 +20,11 @@ bareword    [a-zA-Z0-9_\-+:.\[\]<>;]
 punctuation [:,\[\]{}]
 normalchar  [^"\\\0-\x1f]
 barechar    [a-zA-Z0-9_\-+.]
-escapedchar ({backslash}["\\/bfnrt])
+escapedchar ({backslash}[^ux1-9])
 hexdigit    [0-9a-fA-F]
+latinchar   ({backslash}"x"{hexdigit}{2})
 unicodechar ({backslash}"u"{hexdigit}{4})
-jsonchar    ({normalchar}|{escapedchar}|{unicodechar})
+jsonchar    ({normalchar}|{escapedchar}|{latinchar}|{unicodechar})
 jsondqstr   ({doublequote}{jsonchar}*{doublequote})
 
 sign        ([+-]?)
diff --git a/modules/database/src/ioc/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c b/modules/database/src/ioc/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c
index 2bc429479..1ec804441 100644
--- a/modules/database/src/ioc/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c
+++ b/modules/database/src/ioc/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c
@@ -1172,12 +1172,14 @@ static void dbRecordField(char *name,char *value)
         yyerror(NULL);
         return;
     }
+
     if (*value == '"') {
         /* jsonSTRING values still have their quotes */
         value++;
         value[strlen(value) - 1] = 0;
+        dbTranslateEscape(value, value);    /* in-place; safe & legal */
     }
-    dbTranslateEscape(value, value);    /* in-place; safe & legal */
+
     status = dbPutString(pdbentry,value);
     if (status) {
         char msg[128];
@@ -1203,12 +1205,14 @@ static void dbRecordInfo(char *name, char *value)
     if (duplicate) return;
     ptempListNode = (tempListNode *)ellFirst(&tempList);
     pdbentry = ptempListNode->item;
+
     if (*value == '"') {
         /* jsonSTRING values still have their quotes */
         value++;
         value[strlen(value) - 1] = 0;
+        dbTranslateEscape(value, value);    /* in-place; safe & legal */
     }
-    dbTranslateEscape(value, value);    /* yuck: in-place, but safe */
+
     status = dbPutInfo(pdbentry,name,value);
     if (status) {
         epicsPrintf("Can't set \"%s\" info \"%s\" to \"%s\"\n",