diff --git a/kitty/utils.py b/kitty/utils.py
index 0526b9f8e..cb866c75b 100644
--- a/kitty/utils.py
+++ b/kitty/utils.py
@@ -1091,7 +1091,7 @@ def docs_url(which: str = '', local_docs_root: Optional[str] = '') -> str:
 def sanitize_for_bracketed_paste(text: bytes) -> bytes:
     pat = re.compile(b'(?:(?:\033\\[)|(?:\x9b))201~')
     while True:
-        new_text = pat.sub(text, b'')
+        new_text = pat.sub(b'', text)
         if new_text == text:
             break
         text = new_text
diff --git a/kitty_tests/datatypes.py b/kitty_tests/datatypes.py
index 5bc4a4ffa..7ee081875 100644
--- a/kitty_tests/datatypes.py
+++ b/kitty_tests/datatypes.py
@@ -566,3 +566,4 @@ class TestDataTypes(BaseTest):
             q = sanitize_for_bracketed_paste(x.encode('utf-8'))
             self.assertNotIn(b'\x1b[201~', q)
             self.assertNotIn('\x9b201~'.encode('utf-8'), q)
+            self.assertIn(b'ab', q)