diff --git a/src/doc/reference.md b/src/doc/reference.md
index e7cc1436824..5f71ee44379 100644
--- a/src/doc/reference.md
+++ b/src/doc/reference.md
@@ -208,10 +208,10 @@ A _string literal_ is a sequence of any Unicode characters enclosed within two
 which must be _escaped_ by a preceding `U+005C` character (`\`).
 
 Line-break characters are allowed in string literals. Normally they represent
-themselves (i.e. no translation), but as a special exception, when a `U+005C`
-character (`\`) occurs immediately before the newline, the `U+005C` character,
-the newline, and all whitespace at the beginning of the next line are ignored.
-Thus `a` and `b` are equal:
+themselves (i.e. no translation), but as a special exception, when an unescaped
+`U+005C` character (`\`) occurs immediately before the newline (`U+000A`), the
+`U+005C` character, the newline, and all whitespace at the beginning of the
+next line are ignored. Thus `a` and `b` are equal:
 
 ```rust
 let a = "foobar";