diff --git a/doc/configuration.txt b/doc/configuration.txt
index 123ed97..a622fe3 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.txt
+++ b/doc/configuration.txt
@@ -13411,6 +13411,9 @@
 
     # echo "show info;show stat;show table" | socat /var/run/haproxy stdio
 
+If a command needs to use a semi-colon (eg: in a value), it must be preceeded
+by a backslash ('\').
+
 The interactive mode displays a prompt ('>') and waits for commands to be
 entered on the line, then processes them, and displays the prompt again to wait
 for a new command. This mode is entered via the "prompt" command which must be
diff --git a/src/dumpstats.c b/src/dumpstats.c
index 7347af4..3b1e5e5 100644
--- a/src/dumpstats.c
+++ b/src/dumpstats.c
@@ -2284,15 +2284,20 @@
 				continue;
 			}
 
-			/* seek for a possible semi-colon. If we find one, we
-			 * replace it with an LF and skip only this part.
+			/* seek for a possible unescaped semi-colon. If we find
+			 * one, we replace it with an LF and skip only this part.
 			 */
-			for (len = 0; len < reql; len++)
+			for (len = 0; len < reql; len++) {
+				if (trash.str[len] == '\\') {
+					len++;
+					continue;
+				}
 				if (trash.str[len] == ';') {
 					trash.str[len] = '\n';
 					reql = len + 1;
 					break;
 				}
+			}
 
 			/* now it is time to check that we have a full line,
 			 * remove the trailing \n and possibly \r, then cut the