diff --git a/tccpp.c b/tccpp.c
index c4c1ce53..1c2c8bc9 100644
--- a/tccpp.c
+++ b/tccpp.c
@@ -3511,8 +3511,6 @@ static void macro_subst(
             if (tok_str->len)
                 spc = is_space(t = tok_str->str[tok_str->lastlen]);
         } else {
-            if (t == '\\' && !(parse_flags & PARSE_FLAG_ACCEPT_STRAYS))
-                tcc_error("stray '\\' in program");
 no_subst:
             if (!check_space(t, &spc))
                 tok_str_add2(tok_str, t, &cval);
@@ -3569,7 +3567,8 @@ ST_FUNC void next(void)
     } else if (tok == TOK_PPSTR) {
         if (parse_flags & PARSE_FLAG_TOK_STR)
             parse_string((char *)tokc.str.data, tokc.str.size - 1);
-    }
+    } else if (tok == '\\' && !(parse_flags & PARSE_FLAG_ACCEPT_STRAYS))
+        tcc_error("stray '\\' in program");
 }
 
 /* push back current token and set current token to 'last_tok'. Only
diff --git a/tests/tcctest.c b/tests/tcctest.c
index 1c12dc31..a866330e 100644
--- a/tests/tcctest.c
+++ b/tests/tcctest.c
@@ -420,6 +420,9 @@ comment
     have_included_42test_h = 1;
     have_included_42test_h_second = 1;
     have_included_42test_h_third = 1;
+
+    /* Check that we don't complain about stray \ here */
+    printf("print a backslash: %s\n", stringify(\\));
 }
 
 
diff --git a/tests/tests2/60_errors_and_warnings.c b/tests/tests2/60_errors_and_warnings.c
index ac331ebb..19b7f0c1 100644
--- a/tests/tests2/60_errors_and_warnings.c
+++ b/tests/tests2/60_errors_and_warnings.c
@@ -318,5 +318,8 @@ int main()
     int n = _Generic(*a, double:0, long double:1);
 }
 
+#elif defined test_stray_backslash
+#define x \a
+x
 /******************************************************************/
 #endif
diff --git a/tests/tests2/60_errors_and_warnings.expect b/tests/tests2/60_errors_and_warnings.expect
index 838f6fcc..d693f91a 100644
--- a/tests/tests2/60_errors_and_warnings.expect
+++ b/tests/tests2/60_errors_and_warnings.expect
@@ -150,3 +150,6 @@ bar  : 3 ; 3
 
 [test_long_double_type_for_win32]
 60_errors_and_warnings.c:317: warning: assignment from incompatible pointer type
+
+[test_stray_backslash]
+60_errors_and_warnings.c:323: error: stray '\' in program