diff --git a/bin/getwhitespace.sh b/bin/getwhitespace.sh
index 253f186e11b67be976f047920e44d8fff3d4d37c..213b16f5ce9d9b741f8b1ab56215546cb4708ec1 100755
--- a/bin/getwhitespace.sh
+++ b/bin/getwhitespace.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ echo "/* File generated on `date`
 by getwhitespace <UnicodeData.txt */
 
 #define SPACECASE8							\\
-       case ' ':case '\\t':case '\\r':case '\\n':case '\\v':case '\\f':	\\
+       case ' ':case '\\\\t':case '\\\\r':case '\\\\n':case '\\\\v':case '\\\\f':	\\
        case 0x85:case 0xa0:
 "