diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 320c2393..1cd39955 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ MDBX
 	Add MDB_PREV_MULTIPLE
 	Add error MDB_PROBLEM, replace some MDB_CORRUPTED
 
+LMDB 0.9.20 Release Engineering
+	Fix mdb_load with escaped plaintext (ITS#8558)
+
 LMDB 0.9.19 Release (2016/12/28)
 	Fix mdb_env_cwalk cursor init (ITS#8424)
 	Fix robust mutexes on Solaris 10/11 (ITS#8339)
diff --git a/mdb_load.c b/mdb_load.c
index 625ef02d..e2cddd53 100644
--- a/mdb_load.c
+++ b/mdb_load.c
@@ -252,7 +252,8 @@ badend:
 					c2 += 2;
 				}
 			} else {
-				c1++; c2++;
+				/* copies are redundant when no escapes were used */
+				*c1++ = *c2++;
 			}
 		}
 	} else {