diff --git a/diesel_cli/src/main.rs b/diesel_cli/src/main.rs
index 77df4aba7a59..a0ae06a971a3 100644
--- a/diesel_cli/src/main.rs
+++ b/diesel_cli/src/main.rs
@@ -144,9 +144,11 @@ fn create_config_file(
     let path = Config::file_path(matches);
     if !path.exists() {
         let source_content = include_str!("default_files/diesel.toml").to_string();
+        // convert the path to a valid toml string (escaping backslashes on windows)
+        let migrations_dir_toml_string = migrations_dir.display().to_string().replace('\\', "\\\\");
         let modified_content = source_content.replace(
             "dir = \"migrations\"",
-            &format!("dir = \"{}\"", migrations_dir.display()),
+            &format!("dir = \"{}\"", migrations_dir_toml_string),
         );
         let mut file = fs::File::create(path)?;
         file.write_all(modified_content.as_bytes())?;
diff --git a/diesel_cli/tests/setup.rs b/diesel_cli/tests/setup.rs
index f5d3adbab6be..a65a0d39ff28 100644
--- a/diesel_cli/tests/setup.rs
+++ b/diesel_cli/tests/setup.rs
@@ -186,6 +186,25 @@ fn setup_writes_migration_dir_by_arg_to_config_file() {
     assert!(p.file_contents("diesel.toml").contains("dir = \"foo\""));
 }
 
+#[test]
+#[cfg(windows)]
+fn setup_writes_migration_dir_by_arg_to_config_file_win() {
+    let p = project("setup_writes_migration_dir_by_arg_to_config_file_win").build();
+
+    // make sure the project builder doesn't create it for us
+    assert!(!p.has_file("migrations"));
+    assert!(!p.has_file("foo"));
+
+    let result = p.command("setup").arg("--migration-dir=foo\\bar").run();
+
+    assert!(result.is_success(), "Result was unsuccessful {:?}", result);
+    assert!(!p.has_file("migrations"));
+    assert!(p.has_file("foo"));
+    assert!(p
+        .file_contents("diesel.toml")
+        .contains("dir = \"foo\\\\bar\""));
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn setup_works_with_migration_dir_by_env() {
     let p = project("setup_works_with_migration_dir_by_env").build();