diff --git a/src/preserves/private/parsing.nim b/src/preserves/private/parsing.nim
index 3472336..f90b026 100644
--- a/src/preserves/private/parsing.nim
+++ b/src/preserves/private/parsing.nim
@@ -38,11 +38,19 @@ template unescape*(buf: var string; capture: string) =
       of 't': add(buf, char 0x09)
       of '"': add(buf, char 0x22)
       of 'u':
-        var r: int32
+        var
+          long: uint32
+          short: uint16
         inc(i)
-        discard parseHex(capture, r, i, 4)
+        discard parseHex(capture, short, i, 4)
         inc(i, 3)
-        add(buf, Rune r)
+        long = uint32(short)
+        if capture[i] == 'u':
+          inc(i)
+          discard parseHex(capture, short, i, 4)
+          inc(i, 3)
+          long = (long shl 16) or uint32(short)
+        add(buf, long.Rune.toUtf8)
       else:
         validate(false)
     else: