diff --git a/lib/internal/test_runner/tap_lexer.js b/lib/internal/test_runner/tap_lexer.js
index a27e6ab35ea1d1..8af5453b283a38 100644
--- a/lib/internal/test_runner/tap_lexer.js
+++ b/lib/internal/test_runner/tap_lexer.js
@@ -525,7 +525,7 @@ class TapLexer {
   }
 
   #isEscapeSymbol(char) {
-    return char === '\\';
+    return char === '\\' || char === '\x1b';
   }
 
   #isYamlStartSymbol(char) {
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-runner-tap-lexer.js b/test/parallel/test-runner-tap-lexer.js
index afc6eea1d2c08b..96c27fecdea7d0 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-runner-tap-lexer.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-runner-tap-lexer.js
@@ -480,3 +480,15 @@ ok 1
     assert.strictEqual(tokens[index].value, token.value);
   });
 }
+
+{
+  const tokens = TAPLexer('\x1b');
+
+  [
+    { kind: TokenKind.ESCAPE, value: '\x1b' },
+    { kind: TokenKind.EOL, value: '' },
+  ].forEach((token, index) => {
+    assert.strictEqual(tokens[index].kind, token.kind);
+    assert.strictEqual(tokens[index].value, token.value);
+  });
+}