diff --git a/src/common/rclconfig.cpp b/src/common/rclconfig.cpp
index 8bb074dc..ec255624 100644
--- a/src/common/rclconfig.cpp
+++ b/src/common/rclconfig.cpp
@@ -394,6 +394,7 @@ bool RclConfig::updateMainConfig()
 
     setKeyDir(cstr_null);
 
+    // Texsplit customization
     bool bvalue = false;
     if (getConfParam("nocjk", &bvalue) && bvalue == true) {
         TextSplit::cjkProcessing(false);
@@ -405,16 +406,18 @@ bool RclConfig::updateMainConfig()
             TextSplit::cjkProcessing(true);
         }
     }
-
     bvalue = false;
     if (getConfParam("nonumbers", &bvalue) && bvalue == true) {
         TextSplit::noNumbers();
     }
-
     bvalue = false;
     if (getConfParam("dehyphenate", &bvalue)) {
         TextSplit::deHyphenate(bvalue);
     }
+    bvalue = false;
+    if (getConfParam("backslashasletter", &bvalue)) {
+        TextSplit::backslashAsLetter(bvalue);
+    }
 
     bvalue = true;
     if (getConfParam("skippedPathsFnmPathname", &bvalue) && bvalue == false) {
diff --git a/src/common/textsplit.cpp b/src/common/textsplit.cpp
index bd80f049..f4fee2db 100644
--- a/src/common/textsplit.cpp
+++ b/src/common/textsplit.cpp
@@ -137,6 +137,14 @@ public:
 };
 static const CharClassInit charClassInitInstance;
 
+void TextSplit::backslashAsLetter(bool on) {
+    if (on) {
+        charclasses[int('\\')] = A_LLETTER;
+    } else {
+        charclasses[int('\\')] = SPACE;
+    }
+}
+
 static inline int whatcc(unsigned int c)
 {
     if (c <= 127) {
diff --git a/src/common/textsplit.h b/src/common/textsplit.h
index 9f66d13c..5bc7964a 100644
--- a/src/common/textsplit.h
+++ b/src/common/textsplit.h
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ public:
 	o_deHyphenate = on;
     }
 
+    // Process backslashes as letters? Default is off, but it may be
+    // useful for searching for tex commands. Config variable:
+    // backslashasletter
+    static void backslashAsLetter(bool on);
+    
     enum Flags {
         // Default: will return spans and words (a_b, a, b)
         TXTS_NONE = 0,