diff --git a/.changeset/shy-bats-move.md b/.changeset/shy-bats-move.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8089d0274fe4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/shy-bats-move.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@sveltejs/kit': patch
+---
+
+[fix] replace broken escaping with a working version
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/runtime/server/page/load_node.js b/packages/kit/src/runtime/server/page/load_node.js
index 41ae2f02c1e5..714a3e2ba462 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/runtime/server/page/load_node.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/runtime/server/page/load_node.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { normalize } from '../../load.js';
 import { respond } from '../index.js';
 import { s } from '../../../utils/misc.js';
-import { escape_json_string_in_html } from '../../../utils/escape.js';
+import { escape_json_value_in_html } from '../../../utils/escape.js';
 import { is_root_relative, resolve } from '../../../utils/url.js';
 import { create_prerendering_url_proxy } from './utils.js';
 import { is_pojo } from '../utils.js';
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ export async function load_node({
 								fetched.push({
 									url: requested,
 									body: /** @type {string} */ (opts.body),
-									json: `{"status":${response.status},"statusText":${s(response.statusText)},"headers":${s(headers)},"body":"${escape_json_string_in_html(body)}"}`
+									json: `{"status":${response.status},"statusText":${s(response.statusText)},"headers":${s(headers)},"body":"${escape_json_value_in_html(body)}"}`
 								});
 							}
 
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/utils/escape.js b/packages/kit/src/utils/escape.js
index 4a52cbf83fb8..895c45570d26 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/utils/escape.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/utils/escape.js
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 /** @type {Record<string, string>} */
 const escape_json_in_html_dict = {
+	'&': '\\u0026',
+	'>': '\\u003e',
+	'<': '\\u003c',
+	'\u2028': '\\u2028',
+	'\u2029': '\\u2029'
+};
+
+/** @type {Record<string, string>} */
+const escape_json_value_in_html_dict = {
+	'"': '\\"',
 	'<': '\\u003C',
 	'>': '\\u003E',
 	'/': '\\u002F',
@@ -14,53 +24,30 @@ const escape_json_in_html_dict = {
 	'\u2029': '\\u2029'
 };
 
-/** @type {Record<string, string>} */
-const escape_json_string_in_html_dict = {
-	'"': '\\"',
-	...escape_json_in_html_dict
-};
-
 /**
  * Escape a stringified JSON object that's going to be embedded in a `<script>` tag
  * @param {string} str
  */
 export function escape_json_in_html(str) {
-	return escape(str, escape_json_in_html_dict, (code) => `\\u${code.toString(16).toUpperCase()}`);
+	// adapted from https://github.com/vercel/next.js/blob/694407450638b037673c6d714bfe4126aeded740/packages/next/server/htmlescape.ts
+	// based on https://github.com/zertosh/htmlescape
+	// License: https://github.com/zertosh/htmlescape/blob/0527ca7156a524d256101bb310a9f970f63078ad/LICENSE
+	return str.replace(/[&><\u2028\u2029]/g, (match) => escape_json_in_html_dict[match]);
 }
 
 /**
  * Escape a string JSON value to be embedded into a `<script>` tag
  * @param {string} str
  */
-export function escape_json_string_in_html(str) {
+export function escape_json_value_in_html(str) {
 	return escape(
 		str,
-		escape_json_string_in_html_dict,
+		escape_json_value_in_html_dict,
 		(code) => `\\u${code.toString(16).toUpperCase()}`
 	);
 }
 
-/** @type {Record<string, string>} */
-const escape_html_attr_dict = {
-	'<': '&lt;',
-	'>': '&gt;',
-	'"': '&quot;'
-};
-
 /**
- * use for escaping string values to be used html attributes on the page
- * e.g.
- * <script data-url="here">
- *
- * @param {string} str
- * @returns string escaped string
- */
-export function escape_html_attr(str) {
-	return '"' + escape(str, escape_html_attr_dict, (code) => `&#${code};`) + '"';
-}
-
-/**
- *
  * @param str {string} string to escape
  * @param dict {Record<string, string>} dictionary of character replacements
  * @param unicode_encoder {function(number): string} encoder to use for high unicode characters
@@ -92,3 +79,22 @@ function escape(str, dict, unicode_encoder) {
 
 	return result;
 }
+
+/** @type {Record<string, string>} */
+const escape_html_attr_dict = {
+	'<': '&lt;',
+	'>': '&gt;',
+	'"': '&quot;'
+};
+
+/**
+ * use for escaping string values to be used html attributes on the page
+ * e.g.
+ * <script data-url="here">
+ *
+ * @param {string} str
+ * @returns string escaped string
+ */
+export function escape_html_attr(str) {
+	return '"' + escape(str, escape_html_attr_dict, (code) => `&#${code};`) + '"';
+}