diff --git a/src/nwmatcher-base.js b/src/nwmatcher-base.js
index 4f88a95..3ab93a9 100644
--- a/src/nwmatcher-base.js
+++ b/src/nwmatcher-base.js
@@ -259,13 +259,13 @@
 
   _byId = !('fileSize' in doc) ?
     function(id, from) {
-      id = id.replace(/\\/g, '');
+      id = id.replace(/\\([^\\]{1})/g, '$1');
       return from.getElementById && from.getElementById(id) ||
         byIdRaw(id, from.getElementsByTagName('*'));
     } :
     function(id, from) {
       var element = null;
-      id = id.replace(/\\/g, '');
+      id = id.replace(/\\([^\\]{1})/g, '$1');
       if (XML_DOCUMENT || from.nodeType != 9) {
         return byIdRaw(id, from.getElementsByTagName('*'));
       }
@@ -367,6 +367,7 @@
           name = match[1].toLowerCase();
           if (match[2] && match[4] && (type = Operators[match[2]])) {
             test = name in INSENSITIVE_MAP;
+            match[4] = match[4].replace(/(\x22|\x27)/g, '\\$1');
             match[4] = match[4].replace(/\\([0-9a-f]{2,2})/, '\\x$1');
             type = type.replace(/\%m/g,  test ? match[4].toLowerCase() : match[4]);
             expr = 'n=s.getAttr(e,"' + name + '")' + (test ? '.toLowerCase()' : '') + ';';
@@ -381,6 +382,7 @@
             }
           } else if (match[2] == '!=' || match[2] == '=') {
             expr = 'n=e.attributes["' + name + '"];';
+            match[4] = match[4].replace(/(\x22|\x27)/g, '\\$1');
             type = 'n&&n.value' + match[2] + '="' + match[4] + '"';
           } else {
             expr = '';
@@ -552,12 +554,9 @@
             if ('#' + token == selector) {
               callback && callback(element);
               elements = [ element ];
-            }
-            if (/[>+~]/.test(selector)) {
+            } else if (/[>+~]/.test(selector)) {
               from = element.parentNode;
             } else {
-              selector = selector.replace('#' + token, '*');
-              lastPosition -= token.length + 1;
               from = element;
             }
           } else elements = [ ];
diff --git a/src/nwmatcher.js b/src/nwmatcher.js
index 05d2033..afbae36 100644
--- a/src/nwmatcher.js
+++ b/src/nwmatcher.js
@@ -398,9 +398,9 @@
 
   // dynamic attributes that needs to be checked against original HTML value
   ATTR_DEFAULT = {
-    value: 'defaultValue',
-    checked: 'defaultChecked',
-    selected: 'defaultSelected'
+    'value': 'defaultValue',
+    'checked': 'defaultChecked',
+    'selected': 'defaultSelected'
   },
 
   // attribute referencing URI data values need special treatment in IE
@@ -591,13 +591,13 @@
   // @return reference or null
   _byId = !BUGGY_GEBID ?
     function(id, from) {
-      id = id.replace(/\\/g, '');
+      id = id.replace(/\\([^\\]{1})/g, '$1');
       return from.getElementById && from.getElementById(id) ||
         byIdRaw(id, from.getElementsByTagName('*'));
     } :
     function(id, from) {
       var element = null;
-      id = id.replace(/\\/g, '');
+      id = id.replace(/\\([^\\]{1})/g, '$1');
       if (XML_DOCUMENT || from.nodeType != 9) {
         return byIdRaw(id, from.getElementsByTagName('*'));
       }
@@ -669,7 +669,7 @@
   // @return array
   byName =
     function(name, from) {
-      return select('[name="' + name.replace(/\\/g, '') + '"]', from);
+      return select('[name="' + name.replace(/\\([^\\]{1})/g, '$1') + '"]', from);
     },
 
   // elements by class (raw)
@@ -677,7 +677,7 @@
   byClassRaw =
     function(name, from) {
       var i = -1, j = i, data = [ ], element, elements = _byTag('*', from), n;
-      name = ' ' + (QUIRKS_MODE ? name.toLowerCase() : name).replace(/\\/g, '') + ' ';
+      name = ' ' + (QUIRKS_MODE ? name.toLowerCase() : name).replace(/\\([^\\]{1})/g, '$1') + ' ';
       while ((element = elements[++i])) {
         n = XML_DOCUMENT ? element.getAttribute('class') : element.className;
         if (n && n.length && (' ' + (QUIRKS_MODE ? n.toLowerCase() : n).
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@
   _byClass =
     function(name, from) {
       return (BUGGY_GEBCN || BUGGY_QUIRKS_GEBCN || XML_DOCUMENT || !from.getElementsByClassName) ?
-        byClassRaw(name, from) : slice.call(from.getElementsByClassName(name.replace(/\\/g, '')), 0);
+        byClassRaw(name, from) : slice.call(from.getElementsByClassName(name.replace(/\\([^\\]{1})/g, '$1')), 0);
     },
 
   // publicly exposed byClass
@@ -990,10 +990,12 @@
             // case treatment depends on document
             HTML_TABLE['class'] = QUIRKS_MODE ? 1 : 0;
             // replace escaped values and HTML entities
+            match[4] = match[4].replace(/(\x22|\x27)/g, '\\$1');
             match[4] = match[4].replace(/\\([0-9a-f]{2,2})/, '\\x$1');
             test = (XML_DOCUMENT ? XHTML_TABLE : HTML_TABLE)[expr.toLowerCase()];
             type = type.replace(/\%m/g, test ? match[4].toLowerCase() : match[4]);
           } else if (match[2] == '!=' || match[2] == '=') {
+            match[4] = match[4].replace(/(\x22|\x27)/g, '\\$1');
             type = 'n' + match[2] + '="' + match[4] + '"';
           }
 
@@ -1137,7 +1139,7 @@
                 return '';
               } else {
                 if ('compatMode' in doc) {
-                  source = 'if(!' + compile([expr], '', false) + '(e,s,r,d,h,g)){' + source + '}';
+                  source = 'if(!' + compile(expr, '', false) + '(e,s,r,d,h,g)){' + source + '}';
                 } else {
                   source = 'if(!s.match(e, "' + expr.replace(/\x22/g, '\\"') + '",g)){' + source +'}';
                 }
@@ -1432,12 +1434,9 @@
             if ('#' + token == selector) {
               callback && callback(element);
               elements = [ element ];
-            }
-            if (/[>+~]/.test(selector)) {
+            } else if (/[>+~]/.test(selector)) {
               from = element.parentNode;
             } else {
-              selector = selector.replace('#' + token, '*');
-              lastPosition -= token.length + 1;
               from = element;
             }
           } else elements = [ ];