diff --git a/mitmproxy/command_lexer.py b/mitmproxy/command_lexer.py
index 48b5a6abd..2ba691dff 100644
--- a/mitmproxy/command_lexer.py
+++ b/mitmproxy/command_lexer.py
@@ -9,13 +9,9 @@ import pyparsing
 PartialQuotedString = pyparsing.Regex(
     re.compile(
         r'''
-            (["'])  # start quote
-            (?:
-                (?:\\.)  # escape sequence
-                |
-                (?!\1).  # unescaped character that is not our quote nor the begin of an escape sequence. We can't use \1 in []
-            )*
-            (?:\1|$)  # end quote
+            "[^"]*(?:"|$)  # double-quoted string that ends with double quote or EOF
+            |
+            '[^']*(?:'|$)  # single-quoted string that ends with double quote or EOF
         ''',
         re.VERBOSE
     )
@@ -35,17 +31,11 @@ def quote(val: str) -> str:
         return f'"{val}"'
     if "'" not in val:
         return f"'{val}'"
-    return '"' + re.sub(r'(?<!\\)(\\\\)*"', lambda m: (m.group(1) or "") + '\\"', val) + '"'
+    return '"' + val.replace('"', r"\x22") + '"'
 
 
 def unquote(x: str) -> str:
-    quote_char = ""
-    if len(x) > 1 and x.startswith('"') and x.endswith('"'):
-        quote_char = '"'
-    if len(x) > 1 and x.startswith("'") and x.endswith("'"):
-        quote_char = "'"
-
-    if quote_char:
-        return re.sub(r"(?<!\\)(\\\\)*\\" + quote_char, lambda m: (m.group(1) or "") + quote_char, x[1:-1])
+    if len(x) > 1 and x[0] in "'\"" and x[0] == x[-1]:
+        return x[1:-1]
     else:
         return x
diff --git a/mitmproxy/types.py b/mitmproxy/types.py
index ca00b36c6..01d7ac47f 100644
--- a/mitmproxy/types.py
+++ b/mitmproxy/types.py
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ class _StrType(_BaseType):
         """, re.VERBOSE)
 
     @staticmethod
-    def _unescape(match: re.Match[str]) -> str:
+    def _unescape(match: re.Match) -> str:
         return codecs.decode(match.group(0), "unicode-escape")  # type: ignore
 
     def completion(self, manager: "CommandManager", t: type, s: str) -> typing.Sequence[str]:
diff --git a/test/mitmproxy/test_command.py b/test/mitmproxy/test_command.py
index 808cc18b0..a74503841 100644
--- a/test/mitmproxy/test_command.py
+++ b/test/mitmproxy/test_command.py
@@ -367,24 +367,6 @@ class TestCommand:
                 ],
                 [],
             ],
-            [
-                r'cmd13 "a \"b\" c"',
-                [
-                    command.ParseResult(value="cmd13", type=mitmproxy.types.Cmd, valid=False),
-                    command.ParseResult(value=" ", type=mitmproxy.types.Space, valid=True),
-                    command.ParseResult(value=r'"a \"b\" c"', type=mitmproxy.types.Unknown, valid=False),
-                ],
-                [],
-            ],
-            [
-                r"cmd14 'a \'b\' c'",
-                [
-                    command.ParseResult(value="cmd14", type=mitmproxy.types.Cmd, valid=False),
-                    command.ParseResult(value=" ", type=mitmproxy.types.Space, valid=True),
-                    command.ParseResult(value=r"'a \'b\' c'", type=mitmproxy.types.Unknown, valid=False),
-                ],
-                [],
-            ],
             [
                 "    spaces_at_the_begining_are_not_stripped",
                 [
@@ -436,12 +418,6 @@ def test_simple():
             c.call("nonexistent")
         with pytest.raises(exceptions.CommandError, match="Unknown"):
             c.execute("\\")
-        with pytest.raises(exceptions.CommandError, match="Unknown"):
-            c.execute(r"\'")
-        with pytest.raises(exceptions.CommandError, match="Unknown"):
-            c.execute(r"\"")
-        with pytest.raises(exceptions.CommandError, match="Unknown"):
-            c.execute(r"\"")
 
         c.add("empty", a.empty)
         c.execute("empty")
diff --git a/test/mitmproxy/test_command_lexer.py b/test/mitmproxy/test_command_lexer.py
index e20e49fe6..f94255cdb 100644
--- a/test/mitmproxy/test_command_lexer.py
+++ b/test/mitmproxy/test_command_lexer.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ from mitmproxy import command_lexer
         ("'foo'", True),
         ('"foo"', True),
         ("'foo' bar'", False),
-        ("'foo\\' bar'", True),
         ("'foo' 'bar'", False),
         ("'foo'x", False),
         ('''"foo    ''', True),
@@ -52,8 +51,10 @@ def test_expr(test_input, expected):
 @example("'foo\\\\'")
 @example("\"foo\\'\"")
 @example("\"foo\\\\'\"")
+@example('\'foo\\"\'')
+@example(r"\\\foo")
 def test_quote_unquote_cycle(s):
-    assert command_lexer.unquote(command_lexer.quote(s)) == s
+    assert command_lexer.unquote(command_lexer.quote(s)).replace(r"\x22", '"') == s
 
 
 @given(text())
diff --git a/test/mitmproxy/test_websocket.py b/test/mitmproxy/test_websocket.py
index a47f6e4c3..d7404f290 100644
--- a/test/mitmproxy/test_websocket.py
+++ b/test/mitmproxy/test_websocket.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ class TestWebSocketMessage:
         bin = websocket.WebSocketMessage(Opcode.BINARY, True, b"foo")
 
         assert txt.is_text
-        assert txt.text
+        assert txt.text == "foo"
         txt.text = "bar"
         assert txt.content == b"bar"
 
diff --git a/test/mitmproxy/tools/console/test_defaultkeys.py b/test/mitmproxy/tools/console/test_defaultkeys.py
index f87c20224..389a8eefe 100644
--- a/test/mitmproxy/tools/console/test_defaultkeys.py
+++ b/test/mitmproxy/tools/console/test_defaultkeys.py
@@ -20,18 +20,18 @@ async def test_commands_exist():
     await m.load_flow(tflow())
 
     for binding in km.bindings:
-        parsed, _ = command_manager.parse_partial(binding.command.strip())
-
-        cmd = parsed[0].value
-        args = [
-            a.value for a in parsed[1:]
-            if a.type != mitmproxy.types.Space
-        ]
-
-        assert cmd in m.commands.commands
-
-        cmd_obj = m.commands.commands[cmd]
         try:
+            parsed, _ = command_manager.parse_partial(binding.command.strip())
+
+            cmd = parsed[0].value
+            args = [
+                a.value for a in parsed[1:]
+                if a.type != mitmproxy.types.Space
+            ]
+
+            assert cmd in m.commands.commands
+
+            cmd_obj = m.commands.commands[cmd]
             cmd_obj.prepare_args(args)
         except Exception as e:
-            raise ValueError(f"Invalid command: {binding.command}") from e
+            raise ValueError(f"Invalid binding: {binding.command}") from e