diff --git a/lib/marked.js b/lib/marked.js
index c17db15274..42116356e2 100644
--- a/lib/marked.js
+++ b/lib/marked.js
@@ -522,7 +522,7 @@ var inline = {
   strong: /^__([^\s][\s\S]*?[^\s])__(?!_)|^\*\*([^\s][\s\S]*?[^\s])\*\*(?!\*)|^__([^\s])__(?!_)|^\*\*([^\s])\*\*(?!\*)/,
   em: /^_([^\s][\s\S]*?[^\s_])_(?!_)|^_([^\s_][\s\S]*?[^\s])_(?!_)|^\*([^\s][\s\S]*?[^\s*])\*(?!\*)|^\*([^\s*][\s\S]*?[^\s])\*(?!\*)|^_([^\s_])_(?!_)|^\*([^\s*])\*(?!\*)/,
   code: /^(`+)\s*([\s\S]*?[^`]?)\s*\1(?!`)/,
-  br: /^ {2,}\n(?!\s*$)/,
+  br: /^( {2,}|\\)\n(?!\s*$)/,
   del: noop,
   text: /^[\s\S]+?(?=[\\<!\[`*]|\b_| {2,}\n|$)/
 };
diff --git a/test/specs/commonmark/commonmark-spec.js b/test/specs/commonmark/commonmark-spec.js
index 4205044586..94d894c1ea 100644
--- a/test/specs/commonmark/commonmark-spec.js
+++ b/test/specs/commonmark/commonmark-spec.js
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ describe('CommonMark 0.28 Backslash escapes', function() {
   var section = 'Backslash escapes';
 
   // var shouldPassButFails = [];
-  var shouldPassButFails = [290, 291, 293, 300, 301];
+  var shouldPassButFails = [290, 291, 300, 301];
 
   var willNotBeAttemptedByCoreTeam = [];
 
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ describe('CommonMark 0.28 Hard line breaks', function() {
   var section = 'Hard line breaks';
 
   // var shouldPassButFails = [];
-  var shouldPassButFails = [611, 606, 609, 613];
+  var shouldPassButFails = [613];
 
   var willNotBeAttemptedByCoreTeam = [];