diff --git a/src/Utils/PhpFunctionsScanner.php b/src/Utils/PhpFunctionsScanner.php
index 33c311a2..be9ea8fa 100644
--- a/src/Utils/PhpFunctionsScanner.php
+++ b/src/Utils/PhpFunctionsScanner.php
@@ -16,6 +16,52 @@ public function __construct($code)
         $this->tokens = token_get_all($code);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Decodes a T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING string.
+     *
+     * @param string $value
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public static function decodeString($value)
+    {
+        $result = '';
+        if ($value[0] === "'" || strpos($value, '$') === false) {
+            if (strpos($value, '\\') === false) {
+                $result = substr($value, 1, -1);
+            } else {
+                $result = eval("return $value;");
+            }
+        } else {
+            $value = substr($value, 1, -1);
+            while (($p = strpos($value, '\\')) !== false) {
+                if (!isset($value[$p + 1])) {
+                    break;
+                }
+                if ($p > 0) {
+                    $result .= substr($value, 0, $p);
+                }
+                $value = substr($value, $p + 1);
+                $p = strpos($value, '$');
+                if ($p === false) {
+                    $result .= eval('return "\\'.$value.'";');
+                    $value = '';
+                    break;
+                }
+                if ($p === 0) {
+                    $result .= '$';
+                    $value = substr($value, 1);
+                } else {
+                    $result .= eval('return "\\'.substr($value, 0, $p).'";');
+                    $value = substr($value, $p);
+                }
+            }
+            $result .= $value;
+        }
+
+        return $result;
+    }
+
     /**
      * {@inheritdoc}
      */
@@ -39,15 +85,7 @@ public function getFunctions()
 
             //add an argument to the current function
             if (isset($bufferFunctions[0]) && ($value[0] === T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING)) {
-                $val = $value[1];
-
-                if ($val[0] === '"') {
-                    $val = str_replace('\\"', '"', $val);
-                } else {
-                    $val = str_replace("\\'", "'", $val);
-                }
-
-                $bufferFunctions[0][2][] = substr($val, 1, -1);
+                $bufferFunctions[0][2][] = static::decodeString($value[1]);
                 continue;
             }
 
diff --git a/tests/DecodePhpStringTest.php b/tests/DecodePhpStringTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f022b7e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/DecodePhpStringTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+<?php
+
+class DecodePhpStringTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+{
+    public function decodeStringsProvider()
+    {
+        return array(
+            array('"test"', 'test'),
+            array("'test'", 'test'),
+            array("'DATE \a\\t TIME'", 'DATE \a\t TIME'),
+            array("'DATE \a\\t TIME$'", 'DATE \a\t TIME$'),
+            array("'DATE \a\\t TIME\$'", 'DATE \a\t TIME$'),
+            array("'DATE \a\\t TIME\$a'", 'DATE \a\t TIME$a'),
+            array('"FIELD\\tFIELD"', "FIELD\tFIELD"),
+            array('"$"', '$'),
+            array('"Hi $"', 'Hi $'),
+            array('"$ hi"', '$ hi'),
+            array('"Hi\t$name"', "Hi\t\$name"),
+            array('"Hi\\\\"', 'Hi\\'),
+            array('"{$obj->name}"', '{$obj->name}'),
+            array('"a\x20b $c"', 'a b $c'),
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider decodeStringsProvider
+     */
+    public function testDecodeStrings($source, $decoded)
+    {
+        $this->assertSame($decoded, Gettext\Utils\PhpFunctionsScanner::decodeString($source));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/PhpCodeExtractorTest.php b/tests/PhpCodeExtractorTest.php
index 33b127be..3c9c12a3 100644
--- a/tests/PhpCodeExtractorTest.php
+++ b/tests/PhpCodeExtractorTest.php
@@ -60,4 +60,14 @@ public function testMultiline()
         $this->assertInstanceOf('Gettext\\Translation', $translation);
         $this->assertEquals($original, $translation->getOriginal());
     }
+
+    public function testSpecialChars()
+    {
+        $translations = Gettext\Extractors\PhpCode::fromFile(__DIR__.'/files/special-chars.php');
+
+        $this->assertInstanceOf('Gettext\\Translation', $translations->find(null, 'plain'));
+        $this->assertInstanceOf('Gettext\\Translation', $translations->find(null, 'DATE \\a\\t TIME'));
+        $this->assertInstanceOf('Gettext\\Translation', $translations->find(null, "FIELD\tFIELD"));
+        $this->assertCount(3, $translations);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/files/special-chars.php b/tests/files/special-chars.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5dd008ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/files/special-chars.php
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+<div>
+	<p><?php __('plain'); ?></p>
+    <p><?php __('DATE \a\t TIME'); ?></p>
+    <p><?php __("DATE \a\\t TIME"); ?></p>
+    <p><?php __("DATE \\a\\t TIME"); ?></p>
+    <p><?php __("FIELD\tFIELD"); ?></p>
+</div>