diff --git a/Text/RE/Internal/EscapeREString.hs b/Text/RE/Internal/EscapeREString.hs
index 65e1e4f..927b911 100644
--- a/Text/RE/Internal/EscapeREString.hs
+++ b/Text/RE/Internal/EscapeREString.hs
@@ -8,14 +8,18 @@ escapeREString = foldr esc []
 
 isMetaChar :: Char -> Bool
 isMetaChar c = case c of
-  '*' -> True
-  '?' -> True
-  '+' -> True
-  '[' -> True
-  ']' -> True
-  '{' -> True
-  '}' -> True
-  '$' -> True
-  '^' -> True
-  '.' -> True
-  _   -> False
+  '^'  -> True
+  '\\' -> True
+  '.'  -> True
+  '|'  -> True
+  '*'  -> True
+  '?'  -> True
+  '+'  -> True
+  '('  -> True
+  ')'  -> True
+  '['  -> True
+  ']'  -> True
+  '{'  -> True
+  '}'  -> True
+  '$'  -> True
+  _    -> False
diff --git a/examples/re-tests.lhs b/examples/re-tests.lhs
index 398ce3c..749be40 100644
--- a/examples/re-tests.lhs
+++ b/examples/re-tests.lhs
@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@ escapeTests = testGroup "Escape Tests"
     tst esc (%=~) s = matched $ s %=~ esc (("^" ++) . (++ "$")) s
 
     metacharacters :: String
-    metacharacters = "^*+?[]{}$."
+    metacharacters = "^\\.|*+?()[]{}$"
 \end{code}