diff --git a/backend/windmill-worker/src/bigquery_executor.rs b/backend/windmill-worker/src/bigquery_executor.rs
index 50a2d3811e..388f59300c 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-worker/src/bigquery_executor.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-worker/src/bigquery_executor.rs
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ pub async fn do_bigquery(
         &sig,
         &bigquery_args,
         &reserved_variables,
-        SqlStringEscaping::Backslash,
+        SqlStringEscaping::BigQuery,
     )?;
 
     let queries = parse_sql_blocks(query, false);
diff --git a/backend/windmill-worker/src/duckdb_executor.rs b/backend/windmill-worker/src/duckdb_executor.rs
index 56b7e4101f..c672f4ac53 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-worker/src/duckdb_executor.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-worker/src/duckdb_executor.rs
@@ -1396,7 +1396,7 @@ pub async fn do_duckdb(
             &sig,
             &job_args,
             &reserved_variables,
-            SqlStringEscaping::Standard,
+            SqlStringEscaping::QuoteAndBackslash,
         )?;
         let mut query = transform_s3_uris(query).await?;
 
@@ -1414,7 +1414,7 @@ pub async fn do_duckdb(
                     &sig,
                     &job_args,
                     &reserved_variables,
-                    SqlStringEscaping::Standard,
+                    SqlStringEscaping::QuoteAndBackslash,
                 )?;
                 Some(transform_s3_uris(&interp).await?)
             }
diff --git a/backend/windmill-worker/src/mssql_executor.rs b/backend/windmill-worker/src/mssql_executor.rs
index b5acbc8c9b..36c785b8d6 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-worker/src/mssql_executor.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-worker/src/mssql_executor.rs
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ pub async fn do_mssql(
         &sig,
         &mssql_args,
         &reserved_variables,
-        SqlStringEscaping::Standard,
+        SqlStringEscaping::Quote,
     )?;
 
     let mut prepared_query = Query::new(query.to_owned());
diff --git a/backend/windmill-worker/src/mysql_executor.rs b/backend/windmill-worker/src/mysql_executor.rs
index eb6d3180df..e8a69917cd 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-worker/src/mysql_executor.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-worker/src/mysql_executor.rs
@@ -31,9 +31,7 @@ use crate::{
         s3_stream_and_upload_with_logs, OccupancyMetrics, S3ModeWorkerData,
     },
     handle_child::run_future_with_polling_update_job_poller,
-    sanitized_sql_params::{
-        has_contextual_variables, sanitize_and_interpolate_unsafe_sql_args, SqlStringEscaping,
-    },
+    sanitized_sql_params::{sanitize_and_interpolate_unsafe_sql_args, SqlStringEscaping},
 };
 
 #[derive(Deserialize)]
@@ -163,26 +161,6 @@ fn do_mysql_inner<'a>(
     Ok(result_f.boxed())
 }
 
-/// Under `NO_BACKSLASH_ESCAPES` a backslash-escaped quote closes the literal, so quotes are
-/// doubled instead when the session has it or when the script may turn it on itself.
-async fn mysql_string_escaping(
-    conn: &mut mysql_async::Conn,
-    query: &str,
-) -> windmill_common::error::Result<SqlStringEscaping> {
-    let sql_mode: Option<String> = conn
-        .query_first("SELECT @@SESSION.sql_mode")
-        .await
-        .map_err(to_anyhow)?;
-    let no_backslash_escapes = |s: &str| s.to_ascii_uppercase().contains("NO_BACKSLASH_ESCAPES");
-    Ok(
-        if sql_mode.as_deref().is_some_and(no_backslash_escapes) || no_backslash_escapes(query) {
-            SqlStringEscaping::DoubledQuotes
-        } else {
-            SqlStringEscaping::Backslash
-        },
-    )
-}
-
 pub async fn do_mysql(
     job: &MiniPulledJob,
     client: &AuthedClient,
@@ -284,21 +262,12 @@ pub async fn do_mysql(
     let reserved_variables =
         get_reserved_variables(job, &client.token, conn, parent_runnable_path).await?;
 
-    let pool = mysql_async::Pool::new(opts);
-    let mut mysql_conn = pool.get_conn().await.map_err(to_anyhow)?;
-
-    let escaping = if has_contextual_variables(query) {
-        mysql_string_escaping(&mut mysql_conn, query).await?
-    } else {
-        SqlStringEscaping::Backslash
-    };
-
     let (query, args_to_skip) = &sanitize_and_interpolate_unsafe_sql_args(
         query,
         &sig,
         &job_args,
         &reserved_variables,
-        escaping,
+        SqlStringEscaping::MySql,
     )?;
 
     let using_named_params = RE_ARG_MYSQL_NAMED.captures_iter(query).count() > 0;
@@ -372,6 +341,8 @@ pub async fn do_mysql(
         }
     }
 
+    let pool = mysql_async::Pool::new(opts);
+    let mysql_conn = pool.get_conn().await.map_err(to_anyhow)?;
     let conn_a = Arc::new(Mutex::new(mysql_conn));
 
     let queries = parse_sql_blocks(query, false);
diff --git a/backend/windmill-worker/src/oracledb_executor.rs b/backend/windmill-worker/src/oracledb_executor.rs
index 787386d9e6..21ff78afc8 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-worker/src/oracledb_executor.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-worker/src/oracledb_executor.rs
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ pub async fn do_oracledb(
         &sig,
         &job_args,
         &reserved_variables,
-        SqlStringEscaping::Standard,
+        SqlStringEscaping::Quote,
     )?;
 
     let (_, errors) = get_statement_values(sig.clone(), &job_args, &args_to_skip);
diff --git a/backend/windmill-worker/src/pg_executor.rs b/backend/windmill-worker/src/pg_executor.rs
index 89e2290b18..fa7ebc01e3 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-worker/src/pg_executor.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-worker/src/pg_executor.rs
@@ -903,7 +903,7 @@ pub async fn do_postgresql(
         &sig.args,
         &pg_args,
         &reserved_variables,
-        SqlStringEscaping::Standard,
+        SqlStringEscaping::QuoteAndBackslash,
     )?;
 
     let queries = parse_sql_blocks(query, true);
diff --git a/backend/windmill-worker/src/sanitized_sql_params.rs b/backend/windmill-worker/src/sanitized_sql_params.rs
index 405140725c..5f88f8d7e4 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-worker/src/sanitized_sql_params.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-worker/src/sanitized_sql_params.rs
@@ -33,47 +33,53 @@ fn sanitize_identifier(arg: &Arg, input: &str) -> Result<(), error::Error> {
     }
 }
 
-/// How a dialect escapes characters inside a string literal. Contextual variables are
-/// substituted as raw text, and `WM_END_USER_EMAIL` carries an app end user's email into a
-/// query that runs with the author's credentials: an email may contain `'` (and `\` or `"`
-/// in a quoted local part), so every value is escaped for any string literal it lands in.
+/// How a dialect escapes a value substituted into a quote-delimited string literal.
+/// Contextual variables are substituted as raw text, and `WM_END_USER_EMAIL` carries an app
+/// end user's email into a query that runs with the author's credentials: an email may
+/// contain `'` (and `\` or `"` in a quoted local part).
+///
+/// The escaping must hold whatever literal form and session mode the query uses, so where a
+/// dialect can process backslash escapes in some literal (PostgreSQL/DuckDB `E'...'`, MySQL
+/// outside `NO_BACKSLASH_ESCAPES`), `\` is doubled too: otherwise `\'` in the value becomes
+/// `\''`, whose second quote closes the literal. The price is a doubled `\` (or, in MySQL, a
+/// doubled quote of the other style than the literal) in the rare value that contains one.
 #[derive(Clone, Copy)]
 pub enum SqlStringEscaping {
-    /// `'` → `''`; `\` is ordinary and `"` quotes identifiers (PostgreSQL, MSSQL, Oracle,
-    /// DuckDB).
-    Standard,
-    /// `\` → `\\`, `'` → `\'` and `"` → `\"`, exact in both `'...'` and `"..."` literals
-    /// (MySQL, Snowflake, BigQuery; BigQuery does not accept `''`).
+    /// `'` → `''`; `\` is never an escape (MSSQL, Oracle).
     #[cfg_attr(
-        not(any(feature = "mysql", feature = "snowflake", feature = "bigquery")),
+        not(any(all(feature = "enterprise", feature = "mssql"), feature = "oracledb")),
         allow(dead_code)
     )]
-    Backslash,
-    /// `'` → `''` and `"` → `""`, for MySQL under `NO_BACKSLASH_ESCAPES`, where `\` is
-    /// ordinary and `\'` would close the literal. A quote of the other style than the
-    /// surrounding literal comes out doubled.
+    Quote,
+    /// `\` → `\\`, `'` → `''`; `"` quotes identifiers (PostgreSQL, DuckDB, Snowflake).
+    QuoteAndBackslash,
+    /// `\` → `\\`, `'` → `''`, `"` → `""`: MySQL also accepts `"..."` literals, and only
+    /// doubling stays confined under `NO_BACKSLASH_ESCAPES`.
     #[cfg_attr(not(feature = "mysql"), allow(dead_code))]
-    DoubledQuotes,
+    MySql,
+    /// `\` → `\\`, `'` → `\'`, `"` → `\"`: backslash escapes are always on, both quote
+    /// styles delimit strings, and `''` is not accepted.
+    #[cfg_attr(not(feature = "bigquery"), allow(dead_code))]
+    BigQuery,
 }
 
 impl SqlStringEscaping {
     fn escape(self, value: &str) -> String {
         match self {
-            SqlStringEscaping::Standard => value.replace('\'', "''"),
-            SqlStringEscaping::Backslash => value
+            SqlStringEscaping::Quote => value.replace('\'', "''"),
+            SqlStringEscaping::QuoteAndBackslash => value.replace('\\', "\\\\").replace('\'', "''"),
+            SqlStringEscaping::MySql => value
+                .replace('\\', "\\\\")
+                .replace('\'', "''")
+                .replace('"', "\"\""),
+            SqlStringEscaping::BigQuery => value
                 .replace('\\', "\\\\")
                 .replace('\'', "\\'")
                 .replace('"', "\\\""),
-            SqlStringEscaping::DoubledQuotes => value.replace('\'', "''").replace('"', "\"\""),
         }
     }
 }
 
-#[cfg(feature = "mysql")]
-pub fn has_contextual_variables(code: &str) -> bool {
-    RE_SQL_CONTEXTUAL_VAR.is_match(code)
-}
-
 fn replace_contextual_variables(
     code: &mut String,
     contextual_variables: &HashMap<String, String>,
@@ -190,21 +196,27 @@ mod tests {
         let backslash = r#""x\'/**/OR/**/1=1#"@e.com"#;
 
         assert_eq!(
-            interpolate(code, quote, SqlStringEscaping::Standard),
+            interpolate(code, quote, SqlStringEscaping::Quote),
             r"SELECT 1 WHERE email = 'x''/**/OR/**/''1''=''1''--@e.com'"
         );
+        // `\` doubled too, so `\'` cannot become `\''` in an `E'...'` literal
         assert_eq!(
-            interpolate(code, backslash, SqlStringEscaping::Backslash),
+            interpolate(code, backslash, SqlStringEscaping::QuoteAndBackslash),
+            r#"SELECT 1 WHERE email = '"x\\''/**/OR/**/1=1#"@e.com'"#
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            interpolate(code, backslash, SqlStringEscaping::MySql),
+            r#"SELECT 1 WHERE email = '""x\\''/**/OR/**/1=1#""@e.com'"#
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            interpolate(code, backslash, SqlStringEscaping::BigQuery),
             r#"SELECT 1 WHERE email = '\"x\\\'/**/OR/**/1=1#\"@e.com'"#
         );
-        assert_eq!(
-            interpolate(code, backslash, SqlStringEscaping::DoubledQuotes),
-            r#"SELECT 1 WHERE email = '""x\''/**/OR/**/1=1#""@e.com'"#
-        );
         for escaping in [
-            SqlStringEscaping::Standard,
-            SqlStringEscaping::Backslash,
-            SqlStringEscaping::DoubledQuotes,
+            SqlStringEscaping::Quote,
+            SqlStringEscaping::QuoteAndBackslash,
+            SqlStringEscaping::MySql,
+            SqlStringEscaping::BigQuery,
         ] {
             assert_eq!(
                 interpolate(code, "a.b+c@e.com", escaping),
diff --git a/backend/windmill-worker/src/snowflake_executor.rs b/backend/windmill-worker/src/snowflake_executor.rs
index 2aa203859b..947835b7ec 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-worker/src/snowflake_executor.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-worker/src/snowflake_executor.rs
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ fn do_snowflake_inner<'a>(
         &sig,
         &job_args,
         reserved_variables,
-        SqlStringEscaping::Backslash,
+        SqlStringEscaping::QuoteAndBackslash,
     )?;
 
     body.insert("statement".to_string(), json!(query));