diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/integrations/chai/jest-matcher-utils.ts b/packages/vitest/src/integrations/chai/jest-matcher-utils.ts
index a3b6d5ce56c0..e0f017f37883 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/integrations/chai/jest-matcher-utils.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/integrations/chai/jest-matcher-utils.ts
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ export function stringify(object: unknown, maxDepth = 10, options?: PrettyFormat
   try {
     result = prettyFormat(object, {
       maxDepth,
+      escapeString: false,
       // min: true,
       plugins: PLUGINS,
       ...options,
@@ -118,6 +119,7 @@ export function stringify(object: unknown, maxDepth = 10, options?: PrettyFormat
     result = prettyFormat(object, {
       callToJSON: false,
       maxDepth,
+      escapeString: false,
       // min: true,
       plugins: PLUGINS,
       ...options,
diff --git a/test/core/test/basic.test.ts b/test/core/test/basic.test.ts
index b3e30d675a2b..d775423c442b 100644
--- a/test/core/test/basic.test.ts
+++ b/test/core/test/basic.test.ts
@@ -58,3 +58,8 @@ it.fails('deprecated done callback', (done) => {
   // @ts-expect-error deprecated done callback is not typed
   done()
 })
+
+test('escaping', () => {
+  expect(['\\123']).toEqual(['\\123'])
+  expect('\\123').toEqual('\\123')
+})