diff --git a/src/parse.rs b/src/parse.rs
index 5ec0ca0..cf304ac 100644
--- a/src/parse.rs
+++ b/src/parse.rs
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 //! A regex parser yielding an AST.
 
+use regex::escape;
 use bit_set::BitSet;
 use std::str::FromStr;
 use std::usize;
@@ -199,7 +200,13 @@ impl<'a> Parser<'a> {
                 }
             )),
             b'(' => self.parse_group(ix, depth),
-            b'\\' => self.parse_escape(ix),
+            b'\\' => {
+                let (next, expr) = try!(self.parse_escape(ix));
+                if let Expr::Backref(group) = expr {
+                    self.backrefs.insert(group);
+                }
+                Ok((next, expr))
+            },
             b'+' | b'*' | b'?' | b'|' | b')' =>
                 Ok((ix, Expr::Empty)),
             b'[' => self.parse_class(ix),
@@ -221,7 +228,7 @@ impl<'a> Parser<'a> {
     }
 
     // ix points to \ character
-    fn parse_escape(&mut self, ix: usize) -> Result<(usize, Expr)> {
+    fn parse_escape(&self, ix: usize) -> Result<(usize, Expr)> {
         if ix + 1 == self.re.len() {
             return Err(Error::TrailingBackslash);
         }
@@ -233,7 +240,6 @@ impl<'a> Parser<'a> {
             if let Some((end, group)) = parse_decimal(self.re, ix + 1) {
                 // protect BitSet against unreasonably large value
                 if group < self.re.len() / 2 {
-                    self.backrefs.insert(group);
                     return Ok((end, Expr::Backref(group)));
                 }
             }
@@ -331,9 +337,9 @@ impl<'a> Parser<'a> {
     fn parse_class(&self, ix: usize) -> Result<(usize, Expr)> {
         let bytes = self.re.as_bytes();
         let mut ix = ix + 1;  // skip opening '['
-        let mut inner = String::new();
+        let mut class = String::new();
         let mut nest = 1;
-        inner.push('[');
+        class.push('[');
         loop {
             ix = self.optional_whitespace(ix);
             if ix == self.re.len() {
@@ -344,10 +350,25 @@ impl<'a> Parser<'a> {
                     if ix + 1 == self.re.len() {
                         return Err(Error::InvalidClass);
                     }
-                    ix + 1 + codepoint_len(bytes[ix + 1])
+
+                    // We support more escapes than regex, so parse it ourselves before delegating.
+                    let (end, expr) = try!(self.parse_escape(ix));
+                    match expr {
+                        Expr::Literal { val, .. } => {
+                            class.push_str(&escape(&val));
+                        }
+                        Expr::Delegate { inner, .. } => {
+                            class.push_str(&inner);
+                        }
+                        _ => {
+                            return Err(Error::InvalidClass);
+                        }
+                    }
+                    end
                 }
                 b'[' => {
                     nest += 1;
+                    class.push('[');
                     ix + 1
                 }
                 b']' => {
@@ -355,16 +376,20 @@ impl<'a> Parser<'a> {
                     if nest == 0 {
                         break;
                     }
+                    class.push(']');
                     ix + 1
                 }
-                b => ix + codepoint_len(b)
+                b => {
+                    let end = ix + codepoint_len(b);
+                    class.push_str(&self.re[ix..end]);
+                    end
+                }
             };
-            inner.push_str(&self.re[ix..end]);
             ix = end;
         }
-        inner.push(']');
+        class.push(']');
         let ix = ix + 1;  // skip closing ']'
-        Ok((ix, Expr::Delegate { inner: inner, size: 1 }))
+        Ok((ix, Expr::Delegate { inner: class, size: 1 }))
     }
 
     fn parse_group(&mut self, ix: usize, depth: usize) -> Result<(usize, Expr)> {
diff --git a/tests/matching.rs b/tests/matching.rs
index 5947d94..2691458 100644
--- a/tests/matching.rs
+++ b/tests/matching.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,25 @@ fn control_character_escapes() {
     assert_matches(r"\v", "\x0B");
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn character_class_escapes() {
+    assert_matches(r"[\[]", "[");
+    assert_matches(r"[\^]", "^");
+
+    // The regex crate would reject the following because it's not necessary to escape them.
+    // Other engines allow to escape any non-alphanumeric character.
+    assert_matches(r"[\<]", "<");
+    assert_matches(r"[\>]", ">");
+    assert_matches(r"[\.]", ".");
+
+    // Character class escape
+    assert_matches(r"[\d]", "1");
+
+    // Control characters
+    assert_matches(r"[\e]", "\x1B");
+    assert_matches(r"[\n]", "\x0A");
+}
+
 
 fn assert_matches(re: &str, text: &str) {
     let parse_result = Regex::new(re);