diff --git a/src/tools/ainedit/jaf.h b/src/tools/ainedit/jaf.h
index abd6e1b..0b32657 100644
--- a/src/tools/ainedit/jaf.h
+++ b/src/tools/ainedit/jaf.h
@@ -289,6 +289,7 @@ struct jaf_expression *jaf_integer(int i);
 struct jaf_expression *jaf_parse_integer(struct string *text);
 struct jaf_expression *jaf_float(float f);
 struct jaf_expression *jaf_parse_float(struct string *text);
+struct string *jaf_process_string(struct string *text);
 struct jaf_expression *jaf_string(struct string *text);
 struct jaf_expression *jaf_identifier(struct string *name);
 struct jaf_expression *jaf_unary_expr(enum jaf_operator op, struct jaf_expression *expr);
diff --git a/src/tools/ainedit/jaf_ast.c b/src/tools/ainedit/jaf_ast.c
index 86ba87c..80e9cea 100644
--- a/src/tools/ainedit/jaf_ast.c
+++ b/src/tools/ainedit/jaf_ast.c
@@ -69,6 +69,33 @@ struct jaf_expression *jaf_parse_float(struct string *text)
 	return jaf_float(f);
 }
 
+struct string *jaf_process_string(struct string *text)
+{
+	char *src, *dst;
+	for (src = dst = text->text; *src;) {
+		if (*src == '\\') {
+			src++;
+			switch (*src++) {
+			case 'n':  *dst++ = '\n'; break;
+			case 'r':  *dst++ = '\r'; break;
+			case 'b':  *dst++ = '\b'; break;
+			case '"':  *dst++ = '"';  break;
+			case '\\': *dst++ = '\\'; break;
+			default: ERROR("Unhandled escape sequence in string");
+			}
+		} else if (*src == '"') {
+			src++;
+			while (*src++ != '"');
+		} else {
+			*dst++ = *src++;
+		}
+	}
+
+	*dst = '\0';
+	text->size = dst - text->text;
+	return text;
+}
+
 struct jaf_expression *jaf_string(struct string *text)
 {
 	struct jaf_expression *e = jaf_expr(JAF_EXP_STRING, 0);
diff --git a/src/tools/ainedit/jaf_lexer.l b/src/tools/ainedit/jaf_lexer.l
index a62deeb..73eeb4d 100644
--- a/src/tools/ainedit/jaf_lexer.l
+++ b/src/tools/ainedit/jaf_lexer.l
@@ -34,8 +34,6 @@ E   ([Ee][+-]?{D}+)
 P   ([Pp][+-]?{D}+)
 FS  (f|F|l|L)
 IS  (((u|U)(l|L|ll|LL)?)|((l|L|ll|LL)(u|U)?))
-CP  (u|U|L)
-SP  (u8|u|U|L)
 ES  (\\(['"\?\\abfnrtv]|[0-7]{1,3}|x[a-fA-F0-9]+))
 WS  [ \t\v\f]
 
@@ -99,7 +97,7 @@ unsigned long jaf_line = 1;
 {HP}{H}+{IS}?				{ RETURN_STRING(I_CONSTANT); }
 {NZ}{D}*{IS}?				{ RETURN_STRING(I_CONSTANT); }
 "0"{O}*{IS}?				{ RETURN_STRING(I_CONSTANT); }
-{CP}?"'"([^'\\\n]|{ES})+"'"		{ RETURN_STRING(I_CONSTANT); }
+"'"([^'\\\n]|{ES})+"'"			{ RETURN_STRING(I_CONSTANT); }
 
 {D}+{E}{FS}?				{ RETURN_STRING(F_CONSTANT); }
 {D}*"."{D}+{E}?{FS}?			{ RETURN_STRING(F_CONSTANT); }
@@ -108,7 +106,7 @@ unsigned long jaf_line = 1;
 {HP}{H}*"."{H}+{P}{FS}?			{ RETURN_STRING(F_CONSTANT); }
 {HP}{H}+"."{P}{FS}?			{ RETURN_STRING(F_CONSTANT); }
 
-({SP}?\"([^"\\\n]|{ES})*\"{WS}*)+	{ yylval.string = make_string(yytext+1, yyleng-2); return STRING_LITERAL; }
+(\"([^"\\\n]|{ES})*\"{WS}*)+		{ yylval.string = make_string(yytext+1, yyleng-2); return STRING_LITERAL; }
 
 "..."					{ return ELLIPSIS; }
 ">>="					{ return RIGHT_ASSIGN; }
diff --git a/src/tools/ainedit/jaf_parser.y b/src/tools/ainedit/jaf_parser.y
index 5281754..1a1de7d 100644
--- a/src/tools/ainedit/jaf_parser.y
+++ b/src/tools/ainedit/jaf_parser.y
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ enumeration_constant		/* before it has been defined as such */
 	;
 
 string
-	: STRING_LITERAL { $$ = $1; }
+	: STRING_LITERAL { $$ = jaf_process_string($1); }
 	| FILE_MACRO     { $$ = cstr_to_string(jaf_file); }
 	| LINE_MACRO     { $$ = integer_to_string(jaf_line); }
 	| FUNC_MACRO     { ERROR("__FUNC__ not supported"); }
diff --git a/src/tools/ainedit/test/run-tests.sh b/src/tools/ainedit/test/run-tests.sh
index eff4a7c..d0a64f2 100755
--- a/src/tools/ainedit/test/run-tests.sh
+++ b/src/tools/ainedit/test/run-tests.sh
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ cd $(dirname "$0")
 ./test-runner.sh s-gte.jaf
 ./test-runner.sh s-eq.jaf
 ./test-runner.sh s-neq.jaf
+./test-runner.sh string-constant.jaf
 #./test-runner.sh s-length.jaf
 #./test-runner.sh s-lengthbyte.jaf
 #./test-runner.sh s-empty.jaf