diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2e9850b522..8501bc451d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ New features:
 
 Bug fixes:
 
+* [BUG #594](https://github.com/rust-lang/regex/pull/594):
+  Improve error reporting when writing `\p\`.
 * [BUG #633](https://github.com/rust-lang/regex/pull/633):
   Squash deprecation warnings for the `std::error::Error::description` method.
 
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/ast/mod.rs b/regex-syntax/src/ast/mod.rs
index 35fd051f18..7179f2d403 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/ast/mod.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/ast/mod.rs
@@ -156,6 +156,9 @@ pub enum ErrorKind {
     /// `(?i)*`. It is, however, possible to create a repetition operating on
     /// an empty sub-expression. For example, `()*` is still considered valid.
     RepetitionMissing,
+    /// The Unicode class is not valid. This typically occurs when a `\p` is
+    /// followed by something other than a `{`.
+    UnicodeClassInvalid,
     /// When octal support is disabled, this error is produced when an octal
     /// escape is used. The octal escape is assumed to be an invocation of
     /// a backreference, which is the common case.
@@ -208,6 +211,7 @@ impl error::Error for Error {
             RepetitionCountInvalid => "invalid repetition count range",
             RepetitionCountUnclosed => "unclosed counted repetition",
             RepetitionMissing => "repetition operator missing expression",
+            UnicodeClassInvalid => "invalid Unicode character class",
             UnsupportedBackreference => "backreferences are not supported",
             UnsupportedLookAround => "look-around is not supported",
             _ => unreachable!(),
@@ -295,6 +299,9 @@ impl fmt::Display for ErrorKind {
             RepetitionMissing => {
                 write!(f, "repetition operator missing expression")
             }
+            UnicodeClassInvalid => {
+                write!(f, "invalid Unicode character class")
+            }
             UnsupportedBackreference => {
                 write!(f, "backreferences are not supported")
             }
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/ast/parse.rs b/regex-syntax/src/ast/parse.rs
index c063ea9dc2..f5b4548b23 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/ast/parse.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/ast/parse.rs
@@ -2095,6 +2095,12 @@ impl<'s, P: Borrow<Parser>> ParserI<'s, P> {
         } else {
             let start = self.pos();
             let c = self.char();
+            if c == '\\' {
+                return Err(self.error(
+                    self.span_char(),
+                    ast::ErrorKind::UnicodeClassInvalid,
+                ));
+            }
             self.bump_and_bump_space();
             let kind = ast::ClassUnicodeKind::OneLetter(c);
             (start, kind)
@@ -5713,6 +5719,20 @@ bar
                 ],
             }))
         );
+        assert_eq!(
+            parser(r"\p\{").parse().unwrap_err(),
+            TestError {
+                span: span(2..3),
+                kind: ast::ErrorKind::UnicodeClassInvalid,
+            }
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            parser(r"\P\{").parse().unwrap_err(),
+            TestError {
+                span: span(2..3),
+                kind: ast::ErrorKind::UnicodeClassInvalid,
+            }
+        );
     }
 
     #[test]