diff --git a/src/parsers/smt2/smt2scanner.cpp b/src/parsers/smt2/smt2scanner.cpp
index 8a0dc1639..156cc2e5d 100644
--- a/src/parsers/smt2/smt2scanner.cpp
+++ b/src/parsers/smt2/smt2scanner.cpp
@@ -179,14 +179,6 @@ namespace smt2 {
                     return STRING_TOKEN;
                 }
             }
-            else if (c == '\\') {
-                next();
-                c = curr();
-                if (c == EOF)
-                    throw scanner_exception("unexpected end of string", m_line, m_spos);
-                if (c != '\\' && c != '\"')
-                    throw scanner_exception("invalid escape sequence", m_line, m_spos);
-            }
             m_string.push_back(c);
             next();
         }