diff --git a/lib/rules/no-useless-escape.js b/lib/rules/no-useless-escape.js
index 8304d915f9e..71d006b2323 100644
--- a/lib/rules/no-useless-escape.js
+++ b/lib/rules/no-useless-escape.js
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ module.exports = {
         messages: {
             unnecessaryEscape: "Unnecessary escape character: \\{{character}}.",
             removeEscape: "Remove the `\\`. This maintains the current functionality.",
+            removeEscapeDoNotKeepSemantics: "Remove the `\\` if it was inserted by mistake.",
             escapeBackslash: "Replace the `\\` with `\\\\` to include the actual backslash character."
         },
 
@@ -125,7 +126,10 @@ module.exports = {
                 data: { character },
                 suggest: [
                     {
-                        messageId: "removeEscape",
+
+                        // Removing unnecessary `\` characters in a directive is not guaranteed to maintain functionality.
+                        messageId: astUtils.isDirective(node.parent)
+                            ? "removeEscapeDoNotKeepSemantics" : "removeEscape",
                         fix(fixer) {
                             return fixer.removeRange(range);
                         }
diff --git a/lib/rules/padding-line-between-statements.js b/lib/rules/padding-line-between-statements.js
index 6b165c07f27..95e08736a9c 100644
--- a/lib/rules/padding-line-between-statements.js
+++ b/lib/rules/padding-line-between-statements.js
@@ -130,42 +130,6 @@ function isBlockLikeStatement(sourceCode, node) {
     );
 }
 
-/**
- * Check whether the given node is a directive or not.
- * @param {ASTNode} node The node to check.
- * @param {SourceCode} sourceCode The source code object to get tokens.
- * @returns {boolean} `true` if the node is a directive.
- */
-function isDirective(node, sourceCode) {
-    return (
-        astUtils.isTopLevelExpressionStatement(node) &&
-        node.expression.type === "Literal" &&
-        typeof node.expression.value === "string" &&
-        !astUtils.isParenthesised(sourceCode, node.expression)
-    );
-}
-
-/**
- * Check whether the given node is a part of directive prologue or not.
- * @param {ASTNode} node The node to check.
- * @param {SourceCode} sourceCode The source code object to get tokens.
- * @returns {boolean} `true` if the node is a part of directive prologue.
- */
-function isDirectivePrologue(node, sourceCode) {
-    if (isDirective(node, sourceCode)) {
-        for (const sibling of node.parent.body) {
-            if (sibling === node) {
-                break;
-            }
-            if (!isDirective(sibling, sourceCode)) {
-                return false;
-            }
-        }
-        return true;
-    }
-    return false;
-}
-
 /**
  * Gets the actual last token.
  *
@@ -359,12 +323,10 @@ const StatementTypes = {
             CJS_IMPORT.test(sourceCode.getText(node.declarations[0].init))
     },
     directive: {
-        test: isDirectivePrologue
+        test: astUtils.isDirective
     },
     expression: {
-        test: (node, sourceCode) =>
-            node.type === "ExpressionStatement" &&
-            !isDirectivePrologue(node, sourceCode)
+        test: node => node.type === "ExpressionStatement" && !astUtils.isDirective(node)
     },
     iife: {
         test: isIIFEStatement
@@ -375,10 +337,10 @@ const StatementTypes = {
             isBlockLikeStatement(sourceCode, node)
     },
     "multiline-expression": {
-        test: (node, sourceCode) =>
+        test: node =>
             node.loc.start.line !== node.loc.end.line &&
             node.type === "ExpressionStatement" &&
-            !isDirectivePrologue(node, sourceCode)
+            !astUtils.isDirective(node)
     },
 
     "multiline-const": newMultilineKeywordTester("const"),
diff --git a/lib/rules/utils/ast-utils.js b/lib/rules/utils/ast-utils.js
index e8ed3edd85c..08a23c88878 100644
--- a/lib/rules/utils/ast-utils.js
+++ b/lib/rules/utils/ast-utils.js
@@ -1006,6 +1006,15 @@ function isTopLevelExpressionStatement(node) {
 
 }
 
+/**
+ * Check whether the given node is a part of a directive prologue or not.
+ * @param {ASTNode} node The node to check.
+ * @returns {boolean} `true` if the node is a part of directive prologue.
+ */
+function isDirective(node) {
+    return node.type === "ExpressionStatement" && typeof node.directive === "string";
+}
+
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Public Interface
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -2158,5 +2167,6 @@ module.exports = {
     getSwitchCaseColonToken,
     getModuleExportName,
     isConstant,
-    isTopLevelExpressionStatement
+    isTopLevelExpressionStatement,
+    isDirective
 };
diff --git a/tests/lib/rules/no-useless-escape.js b/tests/lib/rules/no-useless-escape.js
index 09f146ef8c6..77a3c57807b 100644
--- a/tests/lib/rules/no-useless-escape.js
+++ b/tests/lib/rules/no-useless-escape.js
@@ -1066,6 +1066,43 @@ ruleTester.run("no-useless-escape", rule, {
                     output: "`\\\\a```"
                 }]
             }]
+        },
+
+        // https://github.com/eslint/eslint/issues/16988
+        {
+            code: String.raw`"use\ strict";`,
+            errors: [{
+                line: 1,
+                column: 5,
+                endColumn: 6,
+                message: "Unnecessary escape character: \\ .",
+                type: "Literal",
+                suggestions: [{
+                    messageId: "removeEscapeDoNotKeepSemantics",
+                    output: String.raw`"use strict";`
+                }, {
+                    messageId: "escapeBackslash",
+                    output: String.raw`"use\\ strict";`
+                }]
+            }]
+        },
+        {
+            code: String.raw`({ foo() { "foo"; "bar"; "ba\z" } })`,
+            parserOptions: { ecmaVersion: 6 },
+            errors: [{
+                line: 1,
+                column: 29,
+                endColumn: 30,
+                message: "Unnecessary escape character: \\z.",
+                type: "Literal",
+                suggestions: [{
+                    messageId: "removeEscapeDoNotKeepSemantics",
+                    output: String.raw`({ foo() { "foo"; "bar"; "baz" } })`
+                }, {
+                    messageId: "escapeBackslash",
+                    output: String.raw`({ foo() { "foo"; "bar"; "ba\\z" } })`
+                }]
+            }]
         }
     ]
 });
diff --git a/tests/lib/rules/utils/ast-utils.js b/tests/lib/rules/utils/ast-utils.js
index 59486b237ef..bc03c7e47cd 100644
--- a/tests/lib/rules/utils/ast-utils.js
+++ b/tests/lib/rules/utils/ast-utils.js
@@ -1875,4 +1875,49 @@ describe("ast-utils", () => {
             });
         });
     });
+
+    describe("isDirective", () => {
+        const expectedResults = [
+            { code: '"use strict";', expectedRetVal: true },
+            { code: '"use strict"; "use asm";', nodeText: '"use asm";', expectedRetVal: true },
+            { code: 'const a = () => { "foo"; }', nodeText: '"foo";', expectedRetVal: true },
+            { code: '"";', expectedRetVal: true },
+            { code: '{ "foo"; }', nodeText: '"foo";', expectedRetVal: false },
+            { code: "foo();", expectedRetVal: false },
+            { code: '"foo" + "bar";', expectedRetVal: false },
+            { code: "12345;", expectedRetVal: false },
+            { code: "`foo`;", expectedRetVal: false },
+            { code: "('foo');", expectedRetVal: false },
+            { code: 'foo(); "use strict";', nodeText: '"use strict";', expectedRetVal: false }
+        ];
+
+        expectedResults.forEach(({ code, nodeText = code, expectedRetVal }) => {
+            it(`should return ${expectedRetVal} for \`${nodeText}\` in \`${code}\``, () => {
+                linter.defineRule("checker", {
+                    create: mustCall(({ sourceCode }) => {
+                        const assertForNode = mustCall(
+                            node => assert.strictEqual(astUtils.isDirective(node), expectedRetVal)
+                        );
+
+                        return ({
+                            ExpressionStatement(node) {
+                                if (sourceCode.getText(node) === nodeText) {
+                                    assertForNode(node);
+
+                                    if (!expectedRetVal) {
+
+                                        // The flow parser sets `directive` to null on non-directive ExpressionStatement nodes.
+                                        node.directive = null;
+                                        assertForNode(node);
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            }
+                        });
+                    })
+                });
+
+                linter.verify(code, { rules: { checker: "error" }, parserOptions: { ecmaVersion: 2022 } });
+            });
+        });
+    });
 });