diff --git a/packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.test.ts b/packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.test.ts
index 1990332091..95f8dbbe64 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.test.ts
@@ -234,4 +234,20 @@ src/*.tmp
       );
     });
   });
+  describe('Escaped Characters', () => {
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      await setupGitRepo();
+    });
+
+    it('should correctly handle escaped characters in .gitignore', async () => {
+      await createTestFile('.gitignore', '\\#foo\n\\!bar');
+      // Create files with special characters in names
+      await createTestFile('bla/#foo', 'content');
+      await createTestFile('bla/!bar', 'content');
+
+      // These should be ignored based on the escaped patterns
+      expect(parser.isIgnored('bla/#foo')).toBe(true);
+      expect(parser.isIgnored('bla/!bar')).toBe(true);
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.ts b/packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.ts
index 21d83651a5..762015db8d 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.ts
@@ -35,7 +35,10 @@ export class GitIgnoreParser implements GitIgnoreFilter {
 
     const relativeBaseDir = isExcludeFile
       ? '.'
-      : path.dirname(path.relative(this.projectRoot, patternsFilePath));
+      : path
+          .dirname(path.relative(this.projectRoot, patternsFilePath))
+          .split(path.sep)
+          .join(path.posix.sep);
 
     return content
       .split('\n')
@@ -68,11 +71,11 @@ export class GitIgnoreParser implements GitIgnoreFilter {
           if (!isAnchoredInFile && !p.includes('/')) {
             // If no slash and not anchored in file, it matches files in any
             // subdirectory.
-            newPattern = path.join('**', p);
+            newPattern = path.posix.join('**', p);
           }
 
           // Prepend the .gitignore file's directory.
-          newPattern = path.join(relativeBaseDir, newPattern);
+          newPattern = path.posix.join(relativeBaseDir, newPattern);
 
           // Anchor the pattern to a nested gitignore directory.
           if (!newPattern.startsWith('/')) {
@@ -89,9 +92,6 @@ export class GitIgnoreParser implements GitIgnoreFilter {
           newPattern = '!' + newPattern;
         }
 
-        // Even in windows, Ignore expects forward slashes.
-        newPattern = newPattern.replace(/\\/g, '/');
-
         return newPattern;
       })
       .filter((p) => p !== '');
@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@ export class GitIgnoreParser implements GitIgnoreFilter {
           const gitignorePath = path.join(dir, '.gitignore');
           if (fs.existsSync(gitignorePath)) {
             const patterns = this.loadPatternsForFile(gitignorePath);
+
             this.cache.set(dir, patterns);
             ig.add(patterns);
           } else {