diff --git a/src/lib/__tests__/vcard.test.ts b/src/lib/__tests__/vcard.test.ts
index ae2253d8..cff99bef 100644
--- a/src/lib/__tests__/vcard.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/__tests__/vcard.test.ts
@@ -74,6 +74,32 @@ describe('parseVCard', () => {
     expect(note).toBe('line one\nline two, still going');
   });
 
+  it('decodes the escaped colons Google Contacts writes (#1438)', () => {
+    const vcf = [
+      'BEGIN:VCARD',
+      'VERSION:3.0',
+      'FN:Test Example',
+      'NOTE:Reference\\: fictional value\\nSecond line\\, with comma\\; and semicolon',
+      'END:VCARD',
+    ].join('\r\n');
+    const [card] = parseVCard(vcf);
+    expect(Object.values(card.notes ?? {})[0]?.note).toBe(
+      'Reference: fictional value\nSecond line, with comma; and semicolon',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('keeps an escaped backslash literal when an escapable character follows', () => {
+    const vcf = [
+      'BEGIN:VCARD',
+      'VERSION:3.0',
+      'FN:Paths',
+      'NOTE:C:\\\\new\\\\:dir\\\\\\:x\\\\\\\\',
+      'END:VCARD',
+    ].join('\r\n');
+    const [card] = parseVCard(vcf);
+    expect(Object.values(card.notes ?? {})[0]?.note).toBe('C:\\new\\:dir\\:x\\\\');
+  });
+
   it('parses CATEGORIES into keywords', () => {
     const vcf = 'BEGIN:VCARD\r\nVERSION:3.0\r\nFN:Tagged\r\nEMAIL:t@x.com\r\nCATEGORIES:Friends,VIP\r\nEND:VCARD';
     const [card] = parseVCard(vcf);
diff --git a/src/lib/vcard.ts b/src/lib/vcard.ts
index 0f58e4e4..31eb04ed 100644
--- a/src/lib/vcard.ts
+++ b/src/lib/vcard.ts
@@ -252,12 +252,12 @@ function decodeQuotedPrintable(input: string, charset?: string): string {
   return decodeBytes(bytes, charset);
 }
 
+// One pass, so an escaped backslash can't pair up with the next character.
+// \: isn't a vCard escape, but Google Contacts writes it.
 function decodeValue(raw: string): string {
-  return raw
-    .replace(/\\n/gi, '\n')
-    .replace(/\\,/g, ',')
-    .replace(/\\;/g, ';')
-    .replace(/\\\\/g, '\\');
+  return raw.replace(/\\([\\,;:nN])/g, (_, c: string) =>
+    c === 'n' || c === 'N' ? '\n' : c,
+  );
 }
 
 function encodeValue(val: string): string {