diff --git a/datafusion-cli/src/exec.rs b/datafusion-cli/src/exec.rs
index d560dee987f50..552d438ca3908 100644
--- a/datafusion-cli/src/exec.rs
+++ b/datafusion-cli/src/exec.rs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ use crate::helper::split_from_semicolon;
 use crate::print_format::PrintFormat;
 use crate::{
     command::{Command, OutputFormat},
-    helper::{unescape_input, CliHelper},
+    helper::CliHelper,
     object_storage::get_object_store,
     print_options::{MaxRows, PrintOptions},
 };
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ pub async fn exec_from_repl(
                 }
             }
             Ok(line) => {
-                let lines = split_from_semicolon(line);
+                let lines = split_from_semicolon(&line);
                 for line in lines {
                     rl.add_history_entry(line.trim_end())?;
                     tokio::select! {
@@ -215,7 +215,6 @@ pub(super) async fn exec_and_print(
     sql: String,
 ) -> Result<()> {
     let now = Instant::now();
-    let sql = unescape_input(&sql)?;
     let task_ctx = ctx.task_ctx();
     let dialect = &task_ctx.session_config().options().sql_parser.dialect;
     let dialect = dialect_from_str(dialect).ok_or_else(|| {
diff --git a/datafusion-cli/src/helper.rs b/datafusion-cli/src/helper.rs
index 21885fa45be02..5ab8ad2c89580 100644
--- a/datafusion-cli/src/helper.rs
+++ b/datafusion-cli/src/helper.rs
@@ -22,11 +22,8 @@ use std::borrow::Cow;
 
 use crate::highlighter::{NoSyntaxHighlighter, SyntaxHighlighter};
 
-use datafusion::common::sql_datafusion_err;
-use datafusion::error::DataFusionError;
 use datafusion::sql::parser::{DFParser, Statement};
 use datafusion::sql::sqlparser::dialect::dialect_from_str;
-use datafusion::sql::sqlparser::parser::ParserError;
 
 use rustyline::completion::{Completer, FilenameCompleter, Pair};
 use rustyline::error::ReadlineError;
@@ -63,15 +60,6 @@ impl CliHelper {
 
     fn validate_input(&self, input: &str) -> Result<ValidationResult> {
         if let Some(sql) = input.strip_suffix(';') {
-            let sql = match unescape_input(sql) {
-                Ok(sql) => sql,
-                Err(err) => {
-                    return Ok(ValidationResult::Invalid(Some(format!(
-                        "  🤔 Invalid statement: {err}",
-                    ))))
-                }
-            };
-
             let dialect = match dialect_from_str(&self.dialect) {
                 Some(dialect) => dialect,
                 None => {
@@ -166,56 +154,8 @@ impl Validator for CliHelper {
 
 impl Helper for CliHelper {}
 
-/// Unescape input string from readline.
-///
-/// The data read from stdio will be escaped, so we need to unescape the input before executing the input
-pub fn unescape_input(input: &str) -> datafusion::error::Result<String> {
-    let mut chars = input.chars().peekable();
-    let mut result = String::with_capacity(input.len());
-
-    while let Some(ch) = chars.next() {
-        if ch == '\\' {
-            if let Some(&next) = chars.peek() {
-                match next {
-                    '0' => {
-                        chars.next();
-                        result.push('\0');
-                    }
-                    'n' => {
-                        chars.next();
-                        result.push('\n');
-                    }
-                    'r' => {
-                        chars.next();
-                        result.push('\r');
-                    }
-                    't' => {
-                        chars.next();
-                        result.push('\t');
-                    }
-                    '\\' | '\'' => result.push('\\'),
-                    _ => {
-                        return Err(DataFusionError::Execution(format!(
-                            "Invalid escape sequence: \\{}",
-                            next
-                        )))
-                    }
-                }
-            } else {
-                return Err(sql_datafusion_err!(ParserError::TokenizerError(
-                    "incomplete escape sequence: trailing backslash".to_string()
-                )));
-            }
-        } else {
-            result.push(ch);
-        }
-    }
-
-    Ok(result)
-}
-
 /// Splits a string which consists of multiple queries.
-pub(crate) fn split_from_semicolon(sql: String) -> Vec<String> {
+pub(crate) fn split_from_semicolon(sql: &str) -> Vec<String> {
     let mut commands = Vec::new();
     let mut current_command = String::new();
     let mut in_single_quote = false;
@@ -370,15 +310,15 @@ mod tests {
     fn test_split_from_semicolon() {
         let sql = "SELECT 1; SELECT 2;";
         let expected = vec!["SELECT 1;", "SELECT 2;"];
-        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql.to_string()), expected);
+        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql), expected);
 
         let sql = r#"SELECT ";";"#;
         let expected = vec![r#"SELECT ";";"#];
-        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql.to_string()), expected);
+        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql), expected);
 
         let sql = "SELECT ';';";
         let expected = vec!["SELECT ';';"];
-        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql.to_string()), expected);
+        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql), expected);
 
         let sql = r#"SELECT 1; SELECT 'value;value'; SELECT 1 as "text;text";"#;
         let expected = vec![
@@ -386,18 +326,18 @@ mod tests {
             "SELECT 'value;value';",
             r#"SELECT 1 as "text;text";"#,
         ];
-        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql.to_string()), expected);
+        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql), expected);
 
         let sql = "";
         let expected: Vec<String> = Vec::new();
-        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql.to_string()), expected);
+        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql), expected);
 
         let sql = "SELECT 1";
         let expected = vec!["SELECT 1;"];
-        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql.to_string()), expected);
+        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql), expected);
 
         let sql = "SELECT 1;   ";
         let expected = vec!["SELECT 1;"];
-        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql.to_string()), expected);
+        assert_eq!(split_from_semicolon(sql), expected);
     }
 }