diff --git a/prism/templates/template.rb b/prism/templates/template.rb
index 626347ee2485ed..7c5e7cd316d15f 100755
--- a/prism/templates/template.rb
+++ b/prism/templates/template.rb
@@ -360,7 +360,6 @@ def template(name, write_to: nil)
           =end
           HEADING
       else
-        escape = true
         <<~HEADING
         /******************************************************************************/
         /* This file is generated by the templates/template.rb script and should not  */
@@ -374,9 +373,6 @@ def template(name, write_to: nil)
 
       write_to ||= File.expand_path("../#{name}", __dir__)
       contents = heading + erb.result_with_hash(locals)
-      if escape
-        (contents = contents.b).gsub!(/[^\t-~]/) {|c| "\\x%.2x" % c.ord}
-      end
 
       if (extension == ".c" || extension == ".h") && !contents.ascii_only?
         # Enforce that we only have ASCII characters here. This is necessary