diff --git a/fill3/fill3/__init__.py b/fill3/fill3/__init__.py
index d5b02de..e408229 100755
--- a/fill3/fill3/__init__.py
+++ b/fill3/fill3/__init__.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import asyncio
 import contextlib
 import itertools
 import os
+import re
 import signal
 import sys
 
@@ -494,25 +495,12 @@ async def update_screen(screen_widget):
         APPEARANCE_CHANGED_EVENT.clear()
 
 
-def digest_terminal_input(input_str):
-    cursor = 0
-    result = []
-    for index, char in enumerate(input_str):
-        if cursor != index:
-            if char == terminal.ESC:
-                result.append(input_str[cursor:index])
-                cursor = index
-            elif ord(char) < 32:
-                result.extend([input_str[cursor:index], char])
-                cursor = index + 1
-    if cursor != index + 1:
-        result.append(input_str[cursor:index+1])
-    return result
+_INPUT_REGEX = re.compile("\x1b[^\x00-\x1f]+|[\x00-\x1f]|[^\x00-\x1f]+")
 
 
 @handle_exception
 def on_terminal_input(screen_widget):
-    for part in digest_terminal_input(sys.stdin.read()):
+    for part in _INPUT_REGEX.findall(sys.stdin.read()):
         if part.startswith(terminal.MOUSE):
             screen_widget.on_mouse_input(part[3:])
         else:
diff --git a/fill3/tests/fill3_test.py b/fill3/tests/fill3_test.py
index 9d77a87..d67f2e2 100755
--- a/fill3/tests/fill3_test.py
+++ b/fill3/tests/fill3_test.py
@@ -140,16 +140,16 @@ class WidgetTests(unittest.TestCase):
                                                "B  A")
 
 
-class DigestTerminalInputTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+class TerminalInputTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
-    def test_digest_terminal_input(self):
-        self.assertRaises(UnboundLocalError, fill3.digest_terminal_input, "")
-        self.assertEqual(fill3.digest_terminal_input("a"), ["a"])
-        self.assertEqual(fill3.digest_terminal_input("ab"), ["ab"])
-        self.assertEqual(fill3.digest_terminal_input("a\nb"), ["a", "\n", "b"])
-        self.assertEqual(fill3.digest_terminal_input("a\tb"), ["a", "\t", "b"])
-        self.assertEqual(fill3.digest_terminal_input(terminal.UP * 2), [terminal.UP] * 2)
-        self.assertEqual(fill3.digest_terminal_input(terminal.CTRL_C * 2), [terminal.CTRL_C] * 2)
+    def test_input_regex(self):
+        self.assertEqual(fill3._INPUT_REGEX.findall(""), [])
+        self.assertEqual(fill3._INPUT_REGEX.findall("a"), ["a"])
+        self.assertEqual(fill3._INPUT_REGEX.findall("ab"), ["ab"])
+        self.assertEqual(fill3._INPUT_REGEX.findall("a\nb"), ["a", "\n", "b"])
+        self.assertEqual(fill3._INPUT_REGEX.findall("a\tb"), ["a", "\t", "b"])
+        self.assertEqual(fill3._INPUT_REGEX.findall(terminal.UP * 2), [terminal.UP] * 2)
+        self.assertEqual(fill3._INPUT_REGEX.findall(terminal.CTRL_C * 2), [terminal.CTRL_C] * 2)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":