diff --git a/lib/ex.coffee b/lib/ex.coffee
index e026b96..e6af1fe 100644
--- a/lib/ex.coffee
+++ b/lib/ex.coffee
@@ -367,9 +367,12 @@ class Ex
 
     editor.transact ->
       for line in [range[0]..range[1]]
-        editor.scanInBufferRange(
+        # Following some simple testing and reading the atom docs
+        # calling backwardsScanInBufferRange is a better solution.
+        # https://atom.io/docs/api/v1.18.0/TextEditor#instance-backwardsScanInBufferRange
+        editor.backwardsScanInBufferRange(
           patternRE,
-          [[line, 0], [line + 1, 0]],
+          [[line, 0], [line - 1, 0]],
           ({match, replace}) ->
             replace(replaceGroups(match[..], substition))
         )
diff --git a/spec/ex-commands-spec.coffee b/spec/ex-commands-spec.coffee
index 4e3d839..6ca46d8 100644
--- a/spec/ex-commands-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/ex-commands-spec.coffee
@@ -764,12 +764,12 @@ describe "the commands", ->
 
       test = (escapeChar, escaped) ->
         openEx()
-        submitNormalModeInputText(":substitute/,/\\#{escapeChar}/g")
+        submitNormalModeInputText(":substitute/,/#{escapeChar}/g")
         expect(editor.getText()).toEqual("abc#{escaped}def#{escaped}ghi")
 
-      it "replaces with a tab", -> test('t', '\t')
-      it "replaces with a linefeed", -> test('n', '\n')
-      it "replaces with a carriage return", -> test('r', '\r')
+      it "replaces with a tab", -> test('\\t', '\t')
+      it "replaces with a linefeed", -> test('\\n', '\n')
+      it "replaces with a carriage return", -> test('\\r', '\r')
 
     describe "case sensitivity", ->
       describe "respects the smartcase setting", ->