diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 97d1f61..5bf27b8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 # cicada Release Notes
 
+## 0.9.31 - 2022.07.17
+
+- fixed an escape char `\` handling issue.
+    - e.g. `alias c='printf "\ec"'` got `\` char removed.
+
 ## 0.9.30 - 2022-06-12
 
 - added builtin: `vox create`
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 53225ae..2b3e0bf 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ version = "0.7.6"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "fcb51a0695d8f838b1ee009b3fbf66bda078cd64590202a864a8f3e8c4315c47"
 dependencies = [
- "getrandom 0.2.6",
+ "getrandom 0.2.7",
  "once_cell",
  "version_check",
 ]
@@ -129,10 +129,10 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "cicada"
-version = "0.9.30"
+version = "0.9.31"
 dependencies = [
  "chrono",
- "clap 3.1.18",
+ "clap 3.2.12",
  "errno",
  "exec",
  "glob",
@@ -162,9 +162,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "clap"
-version = "3.1.18"
+version = "3.2.12"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "d2dbdf4bdacb33466e854ce889eee8dfd5729abf7ccd7664d0a2d60cd384440b"
+checksum = "ab8b79fe3946ceb4a0b1c080b4018992b8d27e9ff363644c1c9b6387c854614d"
 dependencies = [
  "bitflags",
  "clap_lex",
@@ -174,9 +174,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "clap_lex"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.2.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "a37c35f1112dad5e6e0b1adaff798507497a18fceeb30cceb3bae7d1427b9213"
+checksum = "2850f2f5a82cbf437dd5af4d49848fbdfc27c157c3d010345776f952765261c5"
 dependencies = [
  "os_str_bytes",
 ]
@@ -189,12 +189,12 @@ checksum = "245097e9a4535ee1e3e3931fcfcd55a796a44c643e8596ff6566d68f09b87bbc"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "crossbeam-utils"
-version = "0.8.8"
+version = "0.8.10"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "0bf124c720b7686e3c2663cf54062ab0f68a88af2fb6a030e87e30bf721fcb38"
+checksum = "7d82ee10ce34d7bc12c2122495e7593a9c41347ecdd64185af4ecf72cb1a7f83"
 dependencies = [
  "cfg-if 1.0.0",
- "lazy_static",
+ "once_cell",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -315,13 +315,13 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "getrandom"
-version = "0.2.6"
+version = "0.2.7"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "9be70c98951c83b8d2f8f60d7065fa6d5146873094452a1008da8c2f1e4205ad"
+checksum = "4eb1a864a501629691edf6c15a593b7a51eebaa1e8468e9ddc623de7c9b58ec6"
 dependencies = [
  "cfg-if 1.0.0",
  "libc",
- "wasi 0.10.2+wasi-snapshot-preview1",
+ "wasi 0.11.0+wasi-snapshot-preview1",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -339,13 +339,19 @@ dependencies = [
  "ahash",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hashbrown"
+version = "0.12.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "607c8a29735385251a339424dd462993c0fed8fa09d378f259377df08c126022"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "hashlink"
 version = "0.7.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7249a3129cbc1ffccd74857f81464a323a152173cdb134e0fd81bc803b29facf"
 dependencies = [
- "hashbrown",
+ "hashbrown 0.11.2",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -359,12 +365,12 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "indexmap"
-version = "1.8.2"
+version = "1.9.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "e6012d540c5baa3589337a98ce73408de9b5a25ec9fc2c6fd6be8f0d39e0ca5a"
+checksum = "10a35a97730320ffe8e2d410b5d3b69279b98d2c14bdb8b70ea89ecf7888d41e"
 dependencies = [
  "autocfg",
- "hashbrown",
+ "hashbrown 0.12.2",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -403,9 +409,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "linked-hash-map"
-version = "0.5.4"
+version = "0.5.6"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "7fb9b38af92608140b86b693604b9ffcc5824240a484d1ecd4795bacb2fe88f3"
+checksum = "0717cef1bc8b636c6e1c1bbdefc09e6322da8a9321966e8928ef80d20f7f770f"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "maplit"
@@ -500,9 +506,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "once_cell"
-version = "1.12.0"
+version = "1.13.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "7709cef83f0c1f58f666e746a08b21e0085f7440fa6a29cc194d68aac97a4225"
+checksum = "18a6dbe30758c9f83eb00cbea4ac95966305f5a7772f3f42ebfc7fc7eddbd8e1"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "opaque-debug"
@@ -512,9 +518,9 @@ checksum = "2839e79665f131bdb5782e51f2c6c9599c133c6098982a54c794358bf432529c"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "os_str_bytes"
-version = "6.1.0"
+version = "6.2.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "21326818e99cfe6ce1e524c2a805c189a99b5ae555a35d19f9a284b427d86afa"
+checksum = "648001efe5d5c0102d8cea768e348da85d90af8ba91f0bea908f157951493cd4"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "pest"
@@ -635,18 +641,18 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "proc-macro2"
-version = "1.0.39"
+version = "1.0.40"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "c54b25569025b7fc9651de43004ae593a75ad88543b17178aa5e1b9c4f15f56f"
+checksum = "dd96a1e8ed2596c337f8eae5f24924ec83f5ad5ab21ea8e455d3566c69fbcaf7"
 dependencies = [
  "unicode-ident",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "quote"
-version = "1.0.18"
+version = "1.0.20"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "a1feb54ed693b93a84e14094943b84b7c4eae204c512b7ccb95ab0c66d278ad1"
+checksum = "3bcdf212e9776fbcb2d23ab029360416bb1706b1aea2d1a5ba002727cbcab804"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
 ]
@@ -734,16 +740,16 @@ version = "0.4.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b033d837a7cf162d7993aded9304e30a83213c648b6e389db233191f891e5c2b"
 dependencies = [
- "getrandom 0.2.6",
+ "getrandom 0.2.7",
  "redox_syscall 0.2.13",
  "thiserror",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "regex"
-version = "1.5.6"
+version = "1.6.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "d83f127d94bdbcda4c8cc2e50f6f84f4b611f69c902699ca385a39c3a75f9ff1"
+checksum = "4c4eb3267174b8c6c2f654116623910a0fef09c4753f8dd83db29c48a0df988b"
 dependencies = [
  "aho-corasick",
  "memchr",
@@ -752,9 +758,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "regex-syntax"
-version = "0.6.26"
+version = "0.6.27"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "49b3de9ec5dc0a3417da371aab17d729997c15010e7fd24ff707773a33bddb64"
+checksum = "a3f87b73ce11b1619a3c6332f45341e0047173771e8b8b73f87bfeefb7b56244"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rusqlite"
@@ -785,9 +791,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "serde"
-version = "1.0.137"
+version = "1.0.139"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "61ea8d54c77f8315140a05f4c7237403bf38b72704d031543aa1d16abbf517d1"
+checksum = "0171ebb889e45aa68b44aee0859b3eede84c6f5f5c228e6f140c0b2a0a46cad6"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "sha-1"
@@ -818,9 +824,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "smallvec"
-version = "1.8.0"
+version = "1.9.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f2dd574626839106c320a323308629dcb1acfc96e32a8cba364ddc61ac23ee83"
+checksum = "2fd0db749597d91ff862fd1d55ea87f7855a744a8425a64695b6fca237d1dad1"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "structopt"
@@ -848,9 +854,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "syn"
-version = "1.0.96"
+version = "1.0.98"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "0748dd251e24453cb8717f0354206b91557e4ec8703673a4b30208f2abaf1ebf"
+checksum = "c50aef8a904de4c23c788f104b7dddc7d6f79c647c7c8ce4cc8f73eb0ca773dd"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
@@ -907,11 +913,12 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "time"
-version = "0.1.43"
+version = "0.1.44"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "ca8a50ef2360fbd1eeb0ecd46795a87a19024eb4b53c5dc916ca1fd95fe62438"
+checksum = "6db9e6914ab8b1ae1c260a4ae7a49b6c5611b40328a735b21862567685e73255"
 dependencies = [
  "libc",
+ "wasi 0.10.0+wasi-snapshot-preview1",
  "winapi",
 ]
 
@@ -938,21 +945,21 @@ checksum = "dcf81ac59edc17cc8697ff311e8f5ef2d99fcbd9817b34cec66f90b6c3dfd987"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "ucd-trie"
-version = "0.1.3"
+version = "0.1.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "56dee185309b50d1f11bfedef0fe6d036842e3fb77413abef29f8f8d1c5d4c1c"
+checksum = "89570599c4fe5585de2b388aab47e99f7fa4e9238a1399f707a02e356058141c"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "unicode-ident"
-version = "1.0.0"
+version = "1.0.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "d22af068fba1eb5edcb4aea19d382b2a3deb4c8f9d475c589b6ada9e0fd493ee"
+checksum = "15c61ba63f9235225a22310255a29b806b907c9b8c964bcbd0a2c70f3f2deea7"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "unicode-normalization"
-version = "0.1.19"
+version = "0.1.21"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "d54590932941a9e9266f0832deed84ebe1bf2e4c9e4a3554d393d18f5e854bf9"
+checksum = "854cbdc4f7bc6ae19c820d44abdc3277ac3e1b2b93db20a636825d9322fb60e6"
 dependencies = [
  "tinyvec",
 ]
@@ -975,7 +982,7 @@ version = "1.1.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "dd6469f4314d5f1ffec476e05f17cc9a78bc7a27a6a857842170bdf8d6f98d2f"
 dependencies = [
- "getrandom 0.2.6",
+ "getrandom 0.2.7",
  "serde",
 ]
 
@@ -999,9 +1006,15 @@ checksum = "cccddf32554fecc6acb585f82a32a72e28b48f8c4c1883ddfeeeaa96f7d8e519"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "wasi"
-version = "0.10.2+wasi-snapshot-preview1"
+version = "0.10.0+wasi-snapshot-preview1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1a143597ca7c7793eff794def352d41792a93c481eb1042423ff7ff72ba2c31f"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "wasi"
+version = "0.11.0+wasi-snapshot-preview1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "fd6fbd9a79829dd1ad0cc20627bf1ed606756a7f77edff7b66b7064f9cb327c6"
+checksum = "9c8d87e72b64a3b4db28d11ce29237c246188f4f51057d65a7eab63b7987e423"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "winapi"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 5309213..11b1937 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 edition = "2021"
 build = "src/build.rs"
 name = "cicada"
-version = "0.9.30"
+version = "0.9.31"
 authors = ["Hugo Wang <w@mitnk.com>"]
 
 description = "A simple Bash-like Unix shell."
diff --git a/src/parsers/parser_line.rs b/src/parsers/parser_line.rs
index 142854f..217ef71 100644
--- a/src/parsers/parser_line.rs
+++ b/src/parsers/parser_line.rs
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ pub fn cmd_to_tokens(line: &str) -> Tokens {
     // using semi_ok makes quite dirty here
     // it is mainly for path completion like:
     // $ ls "foo b<TAB>
-    // # then got `"foo bar"/`, then let tab again:
+    // # then got `"foo bar"/`, then hit tab again:
     // $ ls "foo bar"/<TAB>
     // # should got:
     // $ ls "foo bar/the-single-file.txt"
@@ -247,8 +247,12 @@ pub fn cmd_to_tokens(line: &str) -> Tokens {
             met_parenthesis = false;
         }
 
-        if c == '\\' && sep != "'" {
-            has_backslash = true;
+        if c == '\\' {
+            if sep == "'" || !sep_second.is_empty() {
+                token.push(c)
+            } else {
+                has_backslash = true;
+            }
             continue;
         }
 
@@ -804,6 +808,10 @@ mod tests {
                 "1+2-3*(4/5.0)",
                 vec![("", "1+2-3*(4/5.0)"),],
             ),
+            (
+                "alias c='printf \"\\ec\"'",
+                vec![("", "alias"), ("", "c='printf \"\\ec\"'")],
+            ),
         ];
         for (left, right) in v {
             println!("\ninput: {:?}", left);