diff --git a/src/Surface.zig b/src/Surface.zig
index 97129b0e5..c917d07ee 100644
--- a/src/Surface.zig
+++ b/src/Surface.zig
@@ -2254,39 +2254,6 @@ fn showMouse(self: *Surface) void {
     self.rt_surface.setMouseVisibility(true);
 }
 
-pub fn parseStringLiteral(out: []u8, bytes: []const u8) []u8 {
-    var offset: usize = 0;
-    var index: usize = 0;
-    while (true) {
-        if (index >= bytes.len or offset >= out.len) break;
-        const b = bytes[index];
-        switch (b) {
-            '\\' => {
-                const escape_char_index = index + 1;
-                const result = std.zig.string_literal.parseEscapeSequence(bytes, &index);
-                switch (result) {
-                    .success => |codepoint| {
-                        if (bytes[escape_char_index] == 'u') {
-                            const len = std.unicode.utf8Encode(codepoint, out[offset..]) catch break;
-                            offset += len;
-                        } else {
-                            out[offset] = @as(u8, @intCast(codepoint));
-                            offset += 1;
-                        }
-                    },
-                    .failure => break,
-                }
-            },
-            else => {
-                out[offset] = b;
-                offset += 1;
-                index += 1;
-            },
-        }
-    }
-    return out[0..offset];
-}
-
 /// Perform a binding action. A binding is a keybinding. This function
 /// must be called from the GUI thread.
 ///
@@ -2312,7 +2279,10 @@ pub fn performBindingAction(self: *Surface, action: input.Binding.Action) !bool
             const full_data = switch (action) {
                 .csi => try std.fmt.bufPrint(&buf, "\x1b[{s}", .{data}),
                 .esc => try std.fmt.bufPrint(&buf, "\x1b{s}", .{data}),
-                .text => parseStringLiteral(&buf, data),
+                .text => configpkg.string.parse(&buf, data) catch |err| {
+                    log.warn("error parsing text binding text={s} err={}", .{ data, err });
+                    return true;
+                },
                 else => unreachable,
             };
             _ = self.io_thread.mailbox.push(try termio.Message.writeReq(
diff --git a/src/config.zig b/src/config.zig
index 6834291e7..e639f9b84 100644
--- a/src/config.zig
+++ b/src/config.zig
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ const builtin = @import("builtin");
 
 pub usingnamespace @import("config/key.zig");
 pub const Config = @import("config/Config.zig");
+pub const string = @import("config/string.zig");
 
 // Field types
 pub const CopyOnSelect = Config.CopyOnSelect;
diff --git a/src/config/string.zig b/src/config/string.zig
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5e0d40e55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/config/string.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+
+/// Parse a string literal into a byte array. The string can contain
+/// any valid Zig string literal escape sequences.
+///
+/// The output buffer never needs sto be larger than the input buffer.
+/// The buffers may alias.
+pub fn parse(out: []u8, bytes: []const u8) ![]u8 {
+    var dst_i: usize = 0;
+    var src_i: usize = 0;
+    while (src_i < bytes.len) {
+        if (dst_i >= out.len) return error.OutOfMemory;
+
+        // If this byte is not beginning an escape sequence we copy.
+        const b = bytes[src_i];
+        if (b != '\\') {
+            out[dst_i] = b;
+            dst_i += 1;
+            src_i += 1;
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        // Parse the escape sequence
+        switch (std.zig.string_literal.parseEscapeSequence(
+            bytes,
+            &src_i,
+        )) {
+            .failure => return error.InvalidString,
+            .success => |cp| dst_i += try std.unicode.utf8Encode(
+                cp,
+                out[dst_i..],
+            ),
+        }
+    }
+
+    return out[0..dst_i];
+}
+
+test "parse: empty" {
+    const testing = std.testing;
+
+    var buf: [128]u8 = undefined;
+    const result = try parse(&buf, "");
+    try testing.expectEqualStrings("", result);
+}
+
+test "parse: no escapes" {
+    const testing = std.testing;
+
+    var buf: [128]u8 = undefined;
+    const result = try parse(&buf, "hello world");
+    try testing.expectEqualStrings("hello world", result);
+}
+
+test "parse: escapes" {
+    const testing = std.testing;
+
+    var buf: [128]u8 = undefined;
+    {
+        const result = try parse(&buf, "hello\\nworld");
+        try testing.expectEqualStrings("hello\nworld", result);
+    }
+    {
+        const result = try parse(&buf, "hello\\u{1F601}world");
+        try testing.expectEqualStrings("hello\u{1F601}world", result);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/input/Binding.zig b/src/input/Binding.zig
index 37e93ae3c..dba892994 100644
--- a/src/input/Binding.zig
+++ b/src/input/Binding.zig
@@ -134,7 +134,10 @@ pub const Action = union(enum) {
     /// Send an ESC sequence.
     esc: []const u8,
 
-    // Send the given text. Uses Zig string literal syntax.
+    // Send the given text. Uses Zig string literal syntax. The maximum
+    // length of the string is 128 bytes. This is currently not validated.
+    // If the text is invalid (i.e. contains an invalid escape sequence),
+    // the error will currently only show up in logs.
     text: []const u8,
 
     /// Send data to the pty depending on whether cursor key mode is