diff --git a/mercurial/util.py b/mercurial/util.py
--- a/mercurial/util.py
+++ b/mercurial/util.py
@@ -2138,7 +2138,7 @@ def escapestr(s):
     return codecs.escape_encode(s)[0]
 
 def unescapestr(s):
-    return s.decode('string_escape')
+    return codecs.escape_decode(s)[0]
 
 def uirepr(s):
     # Avoid double backslash in Windows path repr()