diff --git a/src/__tests__/templates/bindingSourcesAndTokens.test.ts b/src/__tests__/templates/bindingSourcesAndTokens.test.ts
index 17712ba6f..6f625f81e 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/templates/bindingSourcesAndTokens.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/templates/bindingSourcesAndTokens.test.ts
@@ -164,10 +164,10 @@ describe('containsTokens', () => {
     expect(containsTokens('Hello {site.name}')).toBe(true)
   })
 
-  it('returns true even for escaped { (the parser will resolve it correctly)', () => {
-    // Cheap check is conservative — false positives are fine because the
-    // parser short-circuits on no real tokens.
-    expect(containsTokens('Literal \\{not-a-token}')).toBe(false)
+  it('returns true even for escaped { (the parser resolves it to a literal)', () => {
+    // Cheap check is conservative — an escaped `\{` still needs a parse so
+    // the backslash is stripped; a false positive only costs one parse.
+    expect(containsTokens('Literal \\{not-a-token}')).toBe(true)
   })
 })
 
@@ -303,6 +303,14 @@ describe('interpolateTokens', () => {
     const c = ctx({ entryStack: [] })
     expect(interpolateTokens('Welcome, {currentEntry.title}!', c)).toBe('Welcome, !')
   })
+
+  it('strips the backslash of an escaped `\\{` and emits a literal `{`', () => {
+    expect(interpolateTokens('Literal \\{not-a-token}', ctx())).toBe('Literal {not-a-token}')
+  })
+
+  it('strips the escape even when the string carries no real token', () => {
+    expect(interpolateTokens('\\{just-braces}', ctx())).toBe('{just-braces}')
+  })
 })
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/core/templates/tokenInterpolation.ts b/src/core/templates/tokenInterpolation.ts
index 6946abc99..f0a1a456b 100644
--- a/src/core/templates/tokenInterpolation.ts
+++ b/src/core/templates/tokenInterpolation.ts
@@ -65,15 +65,12 @@ export function bindingToToken(source: DynamicPropBinding['source'], fieldPath:
  * string-typed props in a published page contain no token syntax at all
  * (button labels, html tags, etc.). Detecting that case in O(n) without
  * allocations short-circuits a full parse + concat per render.
+ *
+ * Any `{` warrants a parse — including an escaped `\{`, which the parser
+ * still processes to strip the backslash and emit a literal `{`.
  */
 export function containsTokens(value: string): boolean {
-  // Need at least `{x.y}` — 5 chars minimum. Looking for an unescaped `{`.
-  if (value.length < 5) return false
-  for (let i = 0; i < value.length; i++) {
-    const c = value[i]
-    if (c === '{' && (i === 0 || value[i - 1] !== '\\')) return true
-  }
-  return false
+  return value.includes('{')
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------