diff --git a/lib/term/ansicolor.rb b/lib/term/ansicolor.rb
index 411d817..ab64f74 100644
--- a/lib/term/ansicolor.rb
+++ b/lib/term/ansicolor.rb
@@ -53,11 +53,27 @@ def self.coloring=(val)
     end
     self.coloring = true
 
+    # Returns true, if the shell escaping function of this module is switched on.
+    def self.escaped?
+      @escaped
+    end
+
+    # Turns shell escaping on or off globally
+    def self.escaped=(val)
+      @escaped = val
+    end
+    self.escaped = false
+
+
     ATTRIBUTES.each do |c, v|
       eval %Q{
           def #{c}(string = nil)
             result = ''
-            result << "\e[#{v}m" if Term::ANSIColor.coloring?
+            if Term::ANSIColor.coloring?
+              result << '\\[' if Term::ANSIColor.escaped?
+              result << "\e[#{v}m"
+              result << '\\]' if Term::ANSIColor.escaped?
+            end
             if block_given?
               result << yield
             elsif string
@@ -65,9 +81,13 @@ def #{c}(string = nil)
             elsif respond_to?(:to_str)
               result << to_str
             else
+              result << '\\]' if Term::ANSIColor.escaped?
               return result #only switch on
             end
-            result << "\e[0m" if Term::ANSIColor.coloring?
+            if Term::ANSIColor.coloring?
+              result << "\e[0m"
+              result << '\\]' if Term::ANSIColor.escaped?
+            end
             result
           end
       }
diff --git a/tests/ansicolor_test.rb b/tests/ansicolor_test.rb
index 82c1412..13486f9 100755
--- a/tests/ansicolor_test.rb
+++ b/tests/ansicolor_test.rb
@@ -18,9 +18,10 @@ def setup
     @string = "red"
     @string_red = "\e[31mred\e[0m"
     @string_red_on_green = "\e[42m\e[31mred\e[0m\e[0m"
+    @string_red_escaped = "\\[\e[31m\\]red\e[0m\\]"
   end
 
-  attr_reader :string, :string_red, :string_red_on_green
+  attr_reader :string, :string_red, :string_red_on_green, :string_red_escaped
 
   def test_red
     assert_equal string_red, string.red
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ def test_red
     assert_equal string_red, red { string }
   end
 
+
   def test_red_on_green
     assert_equal string_red_on_green, string.red.on_green
     assert_equal string_red_on_green, Color.on_green(Color.red(string))
@@ -63,4 +65,11 @@ def test_attributes
       assert_equal foo, uncolored { foo }
     end
   end
+
+  def test_red_escaped
+    Term::ANSIColor.escaped = true
+    assert_equal string_red_escaped, "red".red
+    Term::ANSIColor.escaped = false
+  end
+
 end