diff --git a/beets/dbcore/queryparse.py b/beets/dbcore/queryparse.py
index bc9cc77ec..ce88fa3bd 100644
--- a/beets/dbcore/queryparse.py
+++ b/beets/dbcore/queryparse.py
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ def parse_query_part(part, query_classes={}, prefixes={},
     assert match  # Regex should always match
     negate = bool(match.group(1))
     key = match.group(2)
-    term = match.group(3).replace('\:', ':')
+    term = match.group(3).replace('\\:', ':')
 
     # Check whether there's a prefix in the query and use the
     # corresponding query type.
diff --git a/beets/plugins.py b/beets/plugins.py
index 1bd2cacd5..6dec7ef2a 100644
--- a/beets/plugins.py
+++ b/beets/plugins.py
@@ -488,7 +488,7 @@ def feat_tokens(for_artist=True):
     feat_words = ['ft', 'featuring', 'feat', 'feat.', 'ft.']
     if for_artist:
         feat_words += ['with', 'vs', 'and', 'con', '&']
-    return '(?<=\s)(?:{0})(?=\s)'.format(
+    return r'(?<=\s)(?:{0})(?=\s)'.format(
         '|'.join(re.escape(x) for x in feat_words)
     )
 
diff --git a/beetsplug/bucket.py b/beetsplug/bucket.py
index c4be2a3df..db993d612 100644
--- a/beetsplug/bucket.py
+++ b/beetsplug/bucket.py
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ def span_from_str(span_str):
                 d = (yearfrom - yearfrom % 100) + d
         return d
 
-    years = [int(x) for x in re.findall('\d+', span_str)]
+    years = [int(x) for x in re.findall(r'\d+', span_str)]
     if not years:
         raise ui.UserError(u"invalid range defined for year bucket '%s': no "
                            u"year found" % span_str)
diff --git a/beetsplug/lyrics.py b/beetsplug/lyrics.py
index 60f537597..6ecdbd1d0 100644
--- a/beetsplug/lyrics.py
+++ b/beetsplug/lyrics.py
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ def unescape(text):
     def replchar(m):
         num = m.group(1)
         return unichar(int(num))
-    out = re.sub(u"&#(\d+);", replchar, out)
+    out = re.sub(u"&#(\\d+);", replchar, out)
     return out
 
 
@@ -537,12 +537,12 @@ class Google(Backend):
         """
         text = re.sub(r"[-'_\s]", '_', text)
         text = re.sub(r"_+", '_', text).strip('_')
-        pat = "([^,\(]*)\((.*?)\)"  # Remove content within parentheses
-        text = re.sub(pat, '\g<1>', text).strip()
+        pat = r"([^,\(]*)\((.*?)\)"  # Remove content within parentheses
+        text = re.sub(pat, r'\g<1>', text).strip()
         try:
             text = unicodedata.normalize('NFKD', text).encode('ascii',
                                                               'ignore')
-            text = six.text_type(re.sub('[-\s]+', ' ', text.decode('utf-8')))
+            text = six.text_type(re.sub(r'[-\s]+', ' ', text.decode('utf-8')))
         except UnicodeDecodeError:
             self._log.exception(u"Failing to normalize '{0}'", text)
         return text
diff --git a/beetsplug/the.py b/beetsplug/the.py
index cfb583ced..83d1089de 100644
--- a/beetsplug/the.py
+++ b/beetsplug/the.py
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ from beets.plugins import BeetsPlugin
 __author__ = 'baobab@heresiarch.info'
 __version__ = '1.1'
 
-PATTERN_THE = u'^[the]{3}\s'
-PATTERN_A = u'^[a][n]?\s'
+PATTERN_THE = u'^[the]{3}\\s'
+PATTERN_A = u'^[a][n]?\\s'
 FORMAT = u'{0}, {1}'