@ 2992 sv.c (5.8.0)
    if (PMf_EXTENDED & re->reganch)
    {
	char *endptr = re->precomp + re->prelen;
	while (endptr >= re->precomp)
	{
	    char c = *(endptr--);
	    if (c == '\n')
		break; /* don't need another */
	    if (c == '#') {
+	       int n =0;
+		while( endptr >= re->precomp && 
+			  c = *(endptr--) && 
+			  c == '\' )  n++;
+		/* if we've an odd number of backslashes the #
+              is escaped, so don't need the newline */                                        
+		if ( n & 1) break; 
		/* we end while in a comment, so we
		   need a newline */
		mg->mg_len++; /* save space for it */
		need_newline = 1; /* note to add it */
	    }
	}
    }