diff --git a/cmd/tools/vrepl.v b/cmd/tools/vrepl.v
index 99ea224465..701d453195 100644
--- a/cmd/tools/vrepl.v
+++ b/cmd/tools/vrepl.v
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ fn (mut r Repl) checks() bool {
 	mut in_string := false
 	was_indent := r.indent > 0
 	for i := 0; i < r.line.len; i++ {
-		if r.line[i] == `\'` && (i == 0 || r.line[i - 1] != `\\`) {
+		if r.line[i] == `'` && (i == 0 || r.line[i - 1] != `\\`) {
 			in_string = !in_string
 		}
 		if r.line[i] == `{` && !in_string {
diff --git a/vlib/builtin/string_test.v b/vlib/builtin/string_test.v
index 8a5ee6659b..5936aff5f0 100644
--- a/vlib/builtin/string_test.v
+++ b/vlib/builtin/string_test.v
@@ -651,7 +651,7 @@ fn test_for_loop_two() {
 }
 
 fn test_quote() {
-	a := `\'`
+	a := `'`
 	println('testing double quotes')
 	b := 'hi'
 	assert b == 'hi'
diff --git a/vlib/net/html/parser.v b/vlib/net/html/parser.v
index 461c145bc1..5b9bbd16ce 100644
--- a/vlib/net/html/parser.v
+++ b/vlib/net/html/parser.v
@@ -111,10 +111,10 @@ pub fn (mut parser Parser) split_parse(data string) {
 	parser.init()
 	for chr in data {
 		// returns true if byte is a " or '
-		is_quote := chr == `"` || chr == `\'`
+		is_quote := chr == `"` || chr == `'`
 		string_code := match chr {
 			`"` { 1 } // "
-			`\'` { 2 } // '
+			`'` { 2 } // '
 			else { 0 }
 		}
 		if parser.lexical_attributes.open_code { // here will verify all needed to know if open_code finishes and string in code
diff --git a/vlib/strconv/vprintf.v b/vlib/strconv/vprintf.v
index 971477d956..18e37b622f 100644
--- a/vlib/strconv/vprintf.v
+++ b/vlib/strconv/vprintf.v
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ pub fn v_sprintf(str string, pt ...voidptr) string {
 				}
 				i++
 				continue
-			} else if ch == `\'` {
+			} else if ch == `'` {
 				i++
 				continue
 			} else if ch == `.` && fc_ch1 >= `1` && fc_ch1 <= `9` {
diff --git a/vlib/v/fmt/fmt.v b/vlib/v/fmt/fmt.v
index 830d878226..5941be6d2a 100644
--- a/vlib/v/fmt/fmt.v
+++ b/vlib/v/fmt/fmt.v
@@ -521,7 +521,11 @@ pub fn (mut f Fmt) expr(node ast.Expr) {
 			f.chan_init(mut node)
 		}
 		ast.CharLiteral {
-			f.write('`$node.val`')
+			if node.val == r"\'" {
+				f.write("`'`")
+			} else {
+				f.write('`$node.val`')
+			}
 		}
 		ast.Comment {
 			f.comment(node, inline: true)
diff --git a/vlib/v/fmt/tests/char_literal_backtick_keep.vv b/vlib/v/fmt/tests/char_literal_backtick_keep.vv
deleted file mode 100644
index 6979e95bbc..0000000000
--- a/vlib/v/fmt/tests/char_literal_backtick_keep.vv
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-fn char_backtick() {
-	println(`\``)
-}
diff --git a/vlib/v/fmt/tests/char_literal_keep.vv b/vlib/v/fmt/tests/char_literal_keep.vv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e00c5e4d49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vlib/v/fmt/tests/char_literal_keep.vv
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+println(`"`)
+printrn(`'`)
+println(`\``)
diff --git a/vlib/v/gen/c/cgen.v b/vlib/v/gen/c/cgen.v
index 154c14a53b..75d9fd02e4 100644
--- a/vlib/v/gen/c/cgen.v
+++ b/vlib/v/gen/c/cgen.v
@@ -5074,7 +5074,7 @@ fn (mut g Gen) const_decl_precomputed(mod string, name string, ct_value ast.Comp
 		rune {
 			rune_code := u32(ct_value)
 			if rune_code <= 255 {
-				if rune_code in [`"`, `\\`, `\'`] {
+				if rune_code in [`"`, `\\`, `'`] {
 					return false
 				}
 				escval := util.smart_quote(byte(rune_code).ascii_str(), false)
diff --git a/vlib/v/scanner/scanner.v b/vlib/v/scanner/scanner.v
index f60ee8173f..5a69281932 100644
--- a/vlib/v/scanner/scanner.v
+++ b/vlib/v/scanner/scanner.v
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import v.vet
 import v.errors
 
 const (
-	single_quote = `\'`
+	single_quote = `'`
 	double_quote = `"`
 	// char used as number separator
 	num_sep      = `_`
@@ -677,7 +677,7 @@ fn (mut s Scanner) text_scan() token.Token {
 			// end of `$expr`
 			// allow `'$a.b'` and `'$a.c()'`
 			if s.is_inter_start && next_char == `\\`
-				&& s.look_ahead(2) !in [`x`, `n`, `r`, `\\`, `t`, `e`, `"`, `\'`] {
+				&& s.look_ahead(2) !in [`x`, `n`, `r`, `\\`, `t`, `e`, `"`, `'`] {
 				s.warn('unknown escape sequence \\${s.look_ahead(2)}')
 			}
 			if s.is_inter_start && next_char == `(` {
diff --git a/vlib/v/util/util.v b/vlib/v/util/util.v
index 28610378df..5052ef8d25 100644
--- a/vlib/v/util/util.v
+++ b/vlib/v/util/util.v
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ pub fn resolve_env_value(str string, check_for_presence bool) ?string {
 		if ch.is_letter() || ch.is_digit() || ch == `_` {
 			env_lit += ch.ascii_str()
 		} else {
-			if !(ch == `\'` || ch == `)`) {
+			if !(ch == `'` || ch == `)`) {
 				if ch == `$` {
 					return error('cannot use string interpolation in compile time \$env() expression')
 				}
diff --git a/vlib/v/vmod/parser.v b/vlib/v/vmod/parser.v
index 3df5315226..c96afeedc9 100644
--- a/vlib/v/vmod/parser.v
+++ b/vlib/v/vmod/parser.v
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ fn (mut s Scanner) scan_all() {
 				continue
 			}
 		}
-		if c in [`\'`, `\"`] && !s.peek_char(`\\`) {
+		if c in [`'`, `\"`] && !s.peek_char(`\\`) {
 			s.pos++
 			str := s.create_string(c)
 			s.tokenize(.str, str)