diff -r 40a1652349e9 Doc/library/fnmatch.rst
--- a/Doc/library/fnmatch.rst	Sun Oct 14 22:16:27 2012 +0200
+++ b/Doc/library/fnmatch.rst	Sun Oct 14 23:02:18 2012 +0200
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@
 +------------+------------------------------------+
 | ``[!seq]`` | matches any character not in *seq* |
 +------------+------------------------------------+
+| ``\``      | escapes the following char         |
++------------+------------------------------------+
 
 .. index:: module: glob
 
diff -r 40a1652349e9 Lib/fnmatch.py
--- a/Lib/fnmatch.py	Sun Oct 14 22:16:27 2012 +0200
+++ b/Lib/fnmatch.py	Sun Oct 14 23:02:18 2012 +0200
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 __all__ = ["filter", "fnmatch", "fnmatchcase", "translate"]
 
+
 def fnmatch(name, pat):
     """Test whether FILENAME matches PATTERN.
 
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@
     ?       matches any single character
     [seq]   matches any character in seq
     [!seq]  matches any char not in seq
+    \       escapes the following char
 
     An initial period in FILENAME is not special.
     Both FILENAME and PATTERN are first case-normalized
@@ -81,21 +83,25 @@
     res = ''
     while i < n:
         c = pat[i]
-        i = i+1
-        if c == '*':
-            res = res + '.*'
+        i += 1
+
+        if c == '\\':
+            res += re.escape(pat[i])
+            i += 1
+        elif c == '*':
+            res += '.*'
         elif c == '?':
-            res = res + '.'
+            res += '.'
         elif c == '[':
             j = i
             if j < n and pat[j] == '!':
-                j = j+1
+                j += 1
             if j < n and pat[j] == ']':
-                j = j+1
+                j += 1
             while j < n and pat[j] != ']':
-                j = j+1
+                j += 1
             if j >= n:
-                res = res + '\\['
+                res += '\\['
             else:
                 stuff = pat[i:j].replace('\\','\\\\')
                 i = j+1
@@ -105,5 +111,5 @@
                     stuff = '\\' + stuff
                 res = '%s[%s]' % (res, stuff)
         else:
-            res = res + re.escape(c)
+            res += re.escape(c)
     return res + '\Z(?ms)'
diff -r 40a1652349e9 Lib/glob.py
--- a/Lib/glob.py	Sun Oct 14 22:16:27 2012 +0200
+++ b/Lib/glob.py	Sun Oct 14 23:02:18 2012 +0200
@@ -26,25 +26,25 @@
         return
     dirname, basename = os.path.split(pathname)
     if not dirname:
-        yield from glob1(None, basename)
+        yield from _glob_pattern(None, basename)
         return
     if has_magic(dirname):
         dirs = iglob(dirname)
     else:
         dirs = [dirname]
     if has_magic(basename):
-        glob_in_dir = glob1
+        glob_in_dir = _glob_pattern
     else:
-        glob_in_dir = glob0
+        glob_in_dir = _glob_literal
     for dirname in dirs:
         for name in glob_in_dir(dirname, basename):
             yield os.path.join(dirname, name)
 
-# These 2 helper functions non-recursively glob inside a literal directory.
-# They return a list of basenames. `glob1` accepts a pattern while `glob0`
-# takes a literal basename (so it only has to check for its existence).
+# These 2 helper functions non-recursively glob inside a literal directory and
+# return a list of basenames.
 
-def glob1(dirname, pattern):
+def _glob_pattern(dirname, pattern):
+    """Return a list of basenames from the given pattern."""
     if not dirname:
         if isinstance(pattern, bytes):
             dirname = bytes(os.curdir, 'ASCII')
@@ -58,7 +58,9 @@
         names = [x for x in names if x[0] != '.']
     return fnmatch.filter(names, pattern)
 
-def glob0(dirname, basename):
+def _glob_literal(dirname, basename):
+    """Check for the existence of basename, and eventually return [basename].
+    If basename was not found, return an empty list."""
     if basename == '':
         # `os.path.split()` returns an empty basename for paths ending with a
         # directory separator.  'q*x/' should match only directories.
diff -r 40a1652349e9 Lib/test/test_fnmatch.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_fnmatch.py	Sun Oct 14 22:16:27 2012 +0200
+++ b/Lib/test/test_fnmatch.py	Sun Oct 14 23:02:18 2012 +0200
@@ -60,8 +60,6 @@
         self.check_match(b'test\xff', b'te*\xff')
         self.check_match(b'foo\nbar', b'foo*')
 
-class TranslateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
-
     def test_translate(self):
         self.assertEqual(translate('*'), '.*\Z(?ms)')
         self.assertEqual(translate('?'), '.\Z(?ms)')
@@ -71,18 +69,17 @@
         self.assertEqual(translate('[!x]'), '[^x]\Z(?ms)')
         self.assertEqual(translate('[^x]'), '[\\^x]\Z(?ms)')
         self.assertEqual(translate('[x'), '\\[x\Z(?ms)')
-
-
-class FilterTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+        # special chars preceeded by a backslash are escaped
+        self.assertEqual(translate('\[foo\]'), '\[foo\]\Z(?ms)')
+        self.assertEqual(translate(r'\\spam and ch\eese\* *'),
+                        '\\\\spam\ and\ cheese\*\ .*\Z(?ms)')
 
     def test_filter(self):
         self.assertEqual(filter(['a', 'b'], 'a'), ['a'])
 
 
 def test_main():
-    support.run_unittest(FnmatchTestCase,
-                         TranslateTestCase,
-                         FilterTestCase)
+    support.run_unittest(FnmatchTestCase)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":