diff --git a/logRootQA.py b/logRootQA.py
index c7cb9bcc5364..5198defda96e 100644
--- a/logRootQA.py
+++ b/logRootQA.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ def getCommonFiles(d1, d2, pattern):
 
 
 def getWorkflow(f):
-    m = re.search("/\d+\.\d+_", f)
+    m = re.search("/\\d+\\.\\d+_", f)
     if not m:
         return "(none)"
     return m.group().replace("/", "").replace("_", "")
@@ -73,10 +73,12 @@ def filteredLines(f):
     retval = {}
     for l in openfile(f):
         # look for and remove timestamps
-        l = re.sub("20\d\d-\d\d-\d\d \d\d:\d\d:\d\d(\.\d+|)", "DATETIME", l)
-        l = re.sub("\d\d-(\d\d|[A-ZA-z]{3})-20\d\d \d\d:\d\d:\d\d(\.\d+|)", "DATETIME", l)
+        l = re.sub("20\\d\\d-\\d\\d-\\d\\d \\d\\d:\\d\\d:\\d\\d(\\.\\d+|)", "DATETIME", l)
+        l = re.sub(
+            "\\d\\d-(\\d\\d|[A-ZA-z]{3})-20\\d\\d \\d\\d:\\d\\d:\\d\\d(\\.\\d+|)", "DATETIME", l
+        )
         if "Begin processing the" in l:
-            l = re.sub(" on stream \d", " on stream N", l)
+            l = re.sub(" on stream \\d", " on stream N", l)
         sl = l.strip()
         skip = False
         for data in Log_Lines_Filter:
@@ -217,7 +219,7 @@ def checkDQMSize(r1, r2, diff, wfs):
         ]
     )
     lines = output.splitlines()
-    total = re.search("-?\d+\.\d+", lines[-1])
+    total = re.search("-?\\d+\\.\\d+", lines[-1])
     if not total:
         print("Weird output", r1)
         print(output)
@@ -227,7 +229,7 @@ def checkDQMSize(r1, r2, diff, wfs):
     print(lines, diff)
     maxdiff = 10
     for line in lines:
-        if re.match("\s*-?\d+.*", line):  # normal output line
+        if re.match("\\s*-?\\d+.*", line):  # normal output line
             if line not in diff:
                 if len(diff) == maxdiff:
                     diff.append(" ... <truncated>")
diff --git a/modify_comment.py b/modify_comment.py
index 754e375e01cc..02ab630e988b 100755
--- a/modify_comment.py
+++ b/modify_comment.py
@@ -71,8 +71,8 @@
     from process_pr import modify_comment, find_last_comment
     from process_pr import TRIGERING_TESTS_MSG, TRIGERING_STYLE_TEST_MSG
 
-    valid_types["JENKINS_TEST_URL"] = ["^\s*" + TRIGERING_TESTS_MSG + ".*$", None]
-    valid_types["JENKINS_STYLE_URL"] = ["^\s*" + TRIGERING_STYLE_TEST_MSG + ".*$", None]
+    valid_types["JENKINS_TEST_URL"] = ["^\\s*" + TRIGERING_TESTS_MSG + ".*$", None]
+    valid_types["JENKINS_STYLE_URL"] = ["^\\s*" + TRIGERING_STYLE_TEST_MSG + ".*$", None]
     gh = Github(login_or_token=open(expanduser(repo_config.GH_TOKEN)).read().strip())
     issue = gh.get_repo(opts.repository).get_issue(int(args[0]))
     last_comment = find_last_comment(
diff --git a/parse_jenkins_builds.py b/parse_jenkins_builds.py
index 51fc399ef0af..4d267eb04663 100755
--- a/parse_jenkins_builds.py
+++ b/parse_jenkins_builds.py
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ def grep(filename, pattern, verbose=False):
 all_local = []
 path = "/build/builds"
 document = "builds-data"
-rematch = re.compile(".*/\d+$")
+rematch = re.compile(r".*/\d+$")
 for root, dirs, files in os.walk(path):
     if rematch.match(root):
         logFile = root + "/build.xml"
diff --git a/pr-checks/check-pr-files.py b/pr-checks/check-pr-files.py
index d39ab9d05e21..0348c112a2a2 100755
--- a/pr-checks/check-pr-files.py
+++ b/pr-checks/check-pr-files.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def check_commits_files(repo, pr, detail=False):
         if e:
             print(o)
             return all_ok
-        for l in [re.sub("\s+", " ", x.strip()) for x in o.split("\n") if x.strip()]:
+        for l in [re.sub("\\s+", " ", x.strip()) for x in o.split("\n") if x.strip()]:
             (t, f) = l.split(" ")
             if not f in data:
                 data[f] = []
diff --git a/pr_testing/run-das-query.py b/pr_testing/run-das-query.py
index a567abde5d52..7f435f893fcb 100755
--- a/pr_testing/run-das-query.py
+++ b/pr_testing/run-das-query.py
@@ -30,7 +30,9 @@
 if e:
     err = 1
 if os.getenv("MATRIX_EXTRAS", ""):
-    e, o = run_cmd("grep -E '^[1-9][0-9]*(\.[0-9]*|)_' runall-report-step123-.log | sed 's|_.*||'")
+    e, o = run_cmd(
+        "grep -E '^[1-9][0-9]*(\\.[0-9]*|)_' runall-report-step123-.log | sed 's|_.*||'"
+    )
     all_wfs = [wf for wf in o.split("\n") if wf]
     print("All WFS:", all_wfs)
     new_wfs = []
diff --git a/process-build-release-request.py b/process-build-release-request.py
index efbe24f920c8..357fb04f1a0c 100755
--- a/process-build-release-request.py
+++ b/process-build-release-request.py
@@ -944,7 +944,7 @@ def guess_prev_rel_name(release_name, issue):
     rel_match = (
         rel_name_match.group(1)
         + prev_num_str
-        + "\(_[a-zA-Z]*patch[0-9][0-9]*\|\)"
+        + "\\(_[a-zA-Z]*patch[0-9][0-9]*\\|\\)"
         + rel_name_match.group(5)
         + ";"
     )
@@ -952,7 +952,7 @@ def guess_prev_rel_name(release_name, issue):
         rel_match = (
             rel_name_match.group(1)
             + rel_name_match.group(2)
-            + "_pre\([0-9][0-9]*\)"
+            + "_pre\\([0-9][0-9]*\\)"
             + rel_name_match.group(5)
             + ";"
         )
diff --git a/process-error-reports.py b/process-error-reports.py
index 75423ff181a8..4374340ec37a 100755
--- a/process-error-reports.py
+++ b/process-error-reports.py
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@
 # - Replace regexp special caratecters with their escaped counter parts
 # - Replace back @@@ to be "(.*)" for the matching
 def reEscape(s):
-    s = re.sub("%\([a-z_A-Z]+\)s", "@@@", s)
-    s = re.sub("([\[\]\(\)\*\+\.])", "\\\\\\1", s)
+    s = re.sub("%\\([a-z_A-Z]+\\)s", "@@@", s)
+    s = re.sub("([\\[\\]\\(\\)\\*\\+\\.])", "\\\\\\1", s)
     s = s.replace("\n", "\\n")
     s = re.sub("@@@", "(.*)", s)
     return s
diff --git a/process_pr.py b/process_pr.py
index 2ada083167ec..a709d9df74b4 100644
--- a/process_pr.py
+++ b/process_pr.py
@@ -96,30 +96,30 @@ def format(s, **kwds):
 TRIGERING_TESTS_MSG1 = "Jenkins tests started for "
 TRIGERING_STYLE_TEST_MSG = "The project style tests are being triggered in jenkins."
 IGNORING_TESTS_MSG = "Ignoring test request."
-TESTS_RESULTS_MSG = "^\s*([-|+]1|I had the issue.*)\s*$"
+TESTS_RESULTS_MSG = "^\\s*([-|+]1|I had the issue.*)\\s*$"
 FAILED_TESTS_MSG = "The jenkins tests job failed, please try again."
-PUSH_TEST_ISSUE_MSG = "^\[Jenkins CI\] Testing commit: [0-9a-f]+$"
+PUSH_TEST_ISSUE_MSG = "^\\[Jenkins CI\\] Testing commit: [0-9a-f]+$"
 HOLD_MSG = "Pull request has been put on hold by "
 # Regexp to match the test requests
 CODE_CHECKS_REGEXP = re.compile(
-    "code-checks(\s+with\s+cms.week[0-9].PR_[0-9a-f]{8}/[^\s]+|)(\s+and\s+apply\s+patch|)$"
+    r"code-checks(\s+with\s+cms.week[0-9].PR_[0-9a-f]{8}/[^\s]+|)(\s+and\s+apply\s+patch|)$"
 )
-WF_PATTERN = "[1-9][0-9]*(\.[0-9]+|)"
+WF_PATTERN = r"[1-9][0-9]*(\.[0-9]+|)"
 CMSSW_QUEUE_PATTERN = "CMSSW_[0-9]+_[0-9]+_(X|[A-Z][A-Z0-9]+_X|[0-9]+(_[a-zA-Z0-9_]+|))"
 CMSSW_PACKAGE_PATTERN = "[A-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]+(/[a-zA-Z0-9]+|)"
 ARCH_PATTERN = "[a-z0-9]+_[a-z0-9]+_[a-z0-9]+"
 CMSSW_RELEASE_QUEUE_PATTERN = format(
     "(%(cmssw)s|%(arch)s|%(cmssw)s/%(arch)s)", cmssw=CMSSW_QUEUE_PATTERN, arch=ARCH_PATTERN
 )
-RELVAL_OPTS = "[-][a-zA-Z0-9_.,\s/'-]+"
-CLOSE_REQUEST = re.compile("^\s*((@|)cmsbuild\s*[,]*\s+|)(please\s*[,]*\s+|)close\s*$", re.I)
-REOPEN_REQUEST = re.compile("^\s*((@|)cmsbuild\s*[,]*\s+|)(please\s*[,]*\s+|)(re|)open\s*$", re.I)
+RELVAL_OPTS = r"[-][a-zA-Z0-9_.,\s/'-]+"
+CLOSE_REQUEST = re.compile(r"^\s*((@|)cmsbuild\s*[,]*\s+|)(please\s*[,]*\s+|)close\s*$", re.I)
+REOPEN_REQUEST = re.compile(r"^\s*((@|)cmsbuild\s*[,]*\s+|)(please\s*[,]*\s+|)(re|)open\s*$", re.I)
 CMS_PR_PATTERN = format(
     "(#[1-9][0-9]*|(%(cmsorgs)s)/+[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+#[1-9][0-9]*|https://+github.com/+(%(cmsorgs)s)/+[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+/+pull/+[1-9][0-9]*)",
     cmsorgs="|".join(EXTERNAL_REPOS),
 )
 TEST_REGEXP = format(
-    "^\s*((@|)cmsbuild\s*[,]*\s+|)(please\s*[,]*\s+|)test(\s+workflow(s|)\s+(%(workflow)s(\s*,\s*%(workflow)s|)*)|)(\s+with\s+(%(cms_pr)s(\s*,\s*%(cms_pr)s)*)|)(\s+for\s+%(release_queue)s|)(\s+using\s+full\s+cmssw|\s+using\s+(cms-|)addpkg\s+(%(pkg)s(,%(pkg)s)*)|)\s*$",
+    r"^\s*((@|)cmsbuild\s*[,]*\s+|)(please\s*[,]*\s+|)test(\s+workflow(s|)\s+(%(workflow)s(\s*,\s*%(workflow)s|)*)|)(\s+with\s+(%(cms_pr)s(\s*,\s*%(cms_pr)s)*)|)(\s+for\s+%(release_queue)s|)(\s+using\s+full\s+cmssw|\s+using\s+(cms-|)addpkg\s+(%(pkg)s(,%(pkg)s)*)|)\s*$",
     workflow=WF_PATTERN,
     cms_pr=CMS_PR_PATTERN,
     pkg=CMSSW_PACKAGE_PATTERN,
@@ -129,15 +129,15 @@ def format(s, **kwds):
 AUTO_TEST_REPOS = ["cms-sw/cmssw"]
 REGEX_TEST_REG = re.compile(TEST_REGEXP, re.I)
 REGEX_TEST_ABORT = re.compile(
-    "^\s*((@|)cmsbuild\s*[,]*\s+|)(please\s*[,]*\s+|)abort(\s+test|)$", re.I
+    r"^\s*((@|)cmsbuild\s*[,]*\s+|)(please\s*[,]*\s+|)abort(\s+test|)$", re.I
 )
 REGEX_TEST_IGNORE = re.compile(
     r"^\s*(?:(?:@|)cmsbuild\s*[,]*\s+|)(?:please\s*[,]*\s+|)ignore\s+tests-rejected\s+(?:with|)([a-z -]+)$",
     re.I,
 )
 REGEX_COMMITS_CACHE = re.compile(r"<!-- (?:commits|bot) cache: (.*) -->", re.DOTALL)
-REGEX_IGNORE_COMMIT_COUNT = "\+commit-count"
-REGEX_IGNORE_FILE_COUNT = "\+file-count"
+REGEX_IGNORE_COMMIT_COUNT = r"\+commit-count"
+REGEX_IGNORE_FILE_COUNT = r"\+file-count"
 TEST_WAIT_GAP = 720
 ALL_CHECK_FUNCTIONS = None
 EXTRA_RELVALS_TESTS = ["threading", "gpu", "high-stats", "nano"]
@@ -145,13 +145,13 @@ def format(s, **kwds):
 EXTRA_TESTS = "|".join(EXTRA_RELVALS_TESTS) + "|hlt_p2_timing|profiling|none"
 SKIP_TESTS = "|".join(["static", "header"])
 ENABLE_TEST_PTRN = "enable(_test(s|)|)"
-JENKINS_NODES = "[a-zA-Z0-9_|&\s()-]+"
+JENKINS_NODES = r"[a-zA-Z0-9_|&\s()-]+"
 MULTILINE_COMMENTS_MAP = {
     "(workflow|relval)(s|)("
     + EXTRA_RELVALS_TESTS_OPTS
-    + "|)": [format("%(workflow)s(\s*,\s*%(workflow)s|)*", workflow=WF_PATTERN), "MATRIX_EXTRAS"],
+    + "|)": [format(r"%(workflow)s(\s*,\s*%(workflow)s|)*", workflow=WF_PATTERN), "MATRIX_EXTRAS"],
     "(workflow|relval)(s|)_profiling": [
-        format("%(workflow)s(\s*,\s*%(workflow)s|)*", workflow=WF_PATTERN),
+        format(r"%(workflow)s(\s*,\s*%(workflow)s|)*", workflow=WF_PATTERN),
         "PROFILING_WORKFLOWS",
     ],
     "pull_request(s|)": [
@@ -162,12 +162,12 @@ def format(s, **kwds):
     "disable_poison": ["true|false", "DISABLE_POISON"],
     "use_ib_tag": ["true|false", "USE_IB_TAG"],
     "baseline": ["self|default", "USE_BASELINE"],
-    "skip_test(s|)": [format("(%(tests)s)(\s*,\s*(%(tests)s))*", tests=SKIP_TESTS), "SKIP_TESTS"],
+    "skip_test(s|)": [format(r"(%(tests)s)(\s*,\s*(%(tests)s))*", tests=SKIP_TESTS), "SKIP_TESTS"],
     "dry_run": ["true|false", "DRY_RUN"],
     "jenkins_(slave|node)": [JENKINS_NODES, "RUN_ON_SLAVE"],
     "(arch(itecture(s|))|release|release/arch)": [CMSSW_RELEASE_QUEUE_PATTERN, "RELEASE_FORMAT"],
     ENABLE_TEST_PTRN: [
-        format("(%(tests)s)(\s*,\s*(%(tests)s))*", tests=EXTRA_TESTS),
+        format(r"(%(tests)s)(\s*,\s*(%(tests)s))*", tests=EXTRA_TESTS),
         "ENABLE_BOT_TESTS",
     ],
     "ignore_test(s|)": ["build-warnings|clang-warnings", "IGNORE_BOT_TESTS"],
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ def has_user_emoji(bot_cache, comment, repository, emoji, user):
 
 def get_assign_categories(line, extra_labels):
     m = re.match(
-        "^\s*(New categories assigned:\s*|(unassign|assign)\s+(from\s+|package\s+|))([a-zA-Z0-9/,\s-]+)\s*$",
+        r"^\s*(New categories assigned:\s*|(unassign|assign)\s+(from\s+|package\s+|))([a-zA-Z0-9/,\s-]+)\s*$",
         line,
         re.I,
     )
@@ -921,17 +921,17 @@ def process_pr(repo_config, gh, repo, issue, dryRun, cmsbuild_user=None, force=F
     # Process Pull Request
     pkg_categories = set([])
     REGEX_TYPE_CMDS = (
-        "^(type|(build-|)state)\s+(([-+]|)[a-z][a-z0-9_-]+)(\s*,\s*([-+]|)[a-z][a-z0-9_-]+)*$"
+        r"^(type|(build-|)state)\s+(([-+]|)[a-z][a-z0-9_-]+)(\s*,\s*([-+]|)[a-z][a-z0-9_-]+)*$"
     )
-    REGEX_EX_CMDS = "^urgent$|^backport\s+(of\s+|)(#|http(s|):/+github\.com/+%s/+pull/+)\d+$" % (
+    REGEX_EX_CMDS = r"^urgent$|^backport\s+(of\s+|)(#|http(s|):/+github\.com/+%s/+pull/+)\d+$" % (
         repo.full_name
     )
     known_ignore_tests = "%s" % MULTILINE_COMMENTS_MAP["ignore_test(s|)"][0]
-    REGEX_EX_IGNORE_CHKS = "^ignore\s+((%s)(\s*,\s*(%s))*|none)$" % (
+    REGEX_EX_IGNORE_CHKS = r"^ignore\s+((%s)(\s*,\s*(%s))*|none)$" % (
         known_ignore_tests,
         known_ignore_tests,
     )
-    REGEX_EX_ENABLE_TESTS = "^enable\s+(%s)$" % MULTILINE_COMMENTS_MAP[ENABLE_TEST_PTRN][0]
+    REGEX_EX_ENABLE_TESTS = r"^enable\s+(%s)$" % MULTILINE_COMMENTS_MAP[ENABLE_TEST_PTRN][0]
     L2_DATA = init_l2_data(repo_config, cms_repo)
     last_commit_date = None
     last_commit_obj = None
@@ -1301,7 +1301,7 @@ def process_pr(repo_config, gh, repo, issue, dryRun, cmsbuild_user=None, force=F
             if valid_commenter:
                 enable_tests, ignore = check_enable_bot_tests(first_line.split(" ", 1)[-1])
                 comment_emoji = "+1"
-        elif re.match("^allow\s+@([^ ]+)\s+test\s+rights$", first_line, re.I):
+        elif re.match(r"^allow\s+@([^ ]+)\s+test\s+rights$", first_line, re.I):
             comment_emoji = "-1"
             if commenter_categories or (commenter in releaseManagers):
                 tester = first_line.split("@", 1)[-1].split(" ", 1)[0]
@@ -1522,7 +1522,7 @@ def process_pr(repo_config, gh, repo, issue, dryRun, cmsbuild_user=None, force=F
 
         if issue.pull_request or push_test_issue:
             # Check if the release manager asked for merging this.
-            if re.match("^\s*(merge)\s*$", first_line, re.I):
+            if re.match(r"^\s*(merge)\s*$", first_line, re.I):
                 emoji = "-1"
                 if (commenter in releaseManagers) or ("orp" in commenter_categories):
                     mustMerge = True
diff --git a/reco_profiling/profileRunner.py b/reco_profiling/profileRunner.py
index bb8888b36804..54032a8f77da 100644
--- a/reco_profiling/profileRunner.py
+++ b/reco_profiling/profileRunner.py
@@ -423,7 +423,7 @@ def writeProfilingScript(wfdir, runscript, cmdlist):
 
         # ensure that compiler include paths are added to ROOT_INCLUDE_PATH
         fi.write(
-            "for path in $(LC_ALL=C g++   -xc++ -E -v /dev/null 2>&1 | sed -n -e '/^.include/,${' -e '/^ \/.*++/p' -e '}');do ROOT_INCLUDE_PATH=$path:$ROOT_INCLUDE_PATH; done"
+            r"for path in $(LC_ALL=C g++   -xc++ -E -v /dev/null 2>&1 | sed -n -e '/^.include/,${' -e '/^ \/.*++/p' -e '}');do ROOT_INCLUDE_PATH=$path:$ROOT_INCLUDE_PATH; done"
         )
         fi.write("\n")
 
diff --git a/release_notes_collection.py b/release_notes_collection.py
index 1e73d2479c8f..64e062a3649b 100755
--- a/release_notes_collection.py
+++ b/release_notes_collection.py
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@
 from hashlib import md5
 import time
 
-RX_RELEASE = re.compile("CMSSW_(\d+)_(\d+)_(\d+)(_pre[0-9]+)*(_cand[0-9]+)*(_patch[0-9]+)*")
-RX_AUTHOR = re.compile("(.*)(@[a-zA-Z-_0-9]+)")
-RX_COMPARE = re.compile("(https://github.*compare.*\.\.\..*)")
-RX_COMMIT = re.compile("^-\s+(:arrow_right:\s*|)([^/]+\/[^/]+|)\#(\d{0,5})( from.*)")
+RX_RELEASE = re.compile(r"CMSSW_(\d+)_(\d+)_(\d+)(_pre[0-9]+)*(_cand[0-9]+)*(_patch[0-9]+)*")
+RX_AUTHOR = re.compile(r"(.*)(@[a-zA-Z-_0-9]+)")
+RX_COMPARE = re.compile(r"(https://github.*compare.*\.\.\..*)")
+RX_COMMIT = re.compile(r"^-\s+(:arrow_right:\s*|)([^/]+\/[^/]+|)\#(\d{0,5})( from.*)")
 
 Release = namedtuple(
     "Release", ["major", "minor", "subminor", "pre", "cand", "patch", "published_at"]
diff --git a/report-build-release-status.py b/report-build-release-status.py
index c838acc26cb0..0d42741acf5a 100755
--- a/report-build-release-status.py
+++ b/report-build-release-status.py
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ def get_test_log(logfile):
     try:
         logfile = join(getenv("WORKSPACE"), logfile)
         try:
-            logmsg = "\n\nTests results:\n" + getoutput("grep 'ERROR\| tests passed' " + logfile)
+            logmsg = "\n\nTests results:\n" + getoutput("grep 'ERROR\\| tests passed' " + logfile)
         except:
             logmsg = "\n\nUnable to read tests log: No such file " + logfile
     except:
diff --git a/report-pull-request-results.py b/report-pull-request-results.py
index e4c0002ce4e2..4bf29dc93937 100755
--- a/report-pull-request-results.py
+++ b/report-pull-request-results.py
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ def read_matrix_log_file(matrix_log):
         line = line.strip()
         if "ERROR executing" in line:
             print("processing: %s" % line)
-            parts = re.sub("\s+", " ", line).split(" ")
+            parts = re.sub("\\s+", " ", line).split(" ")
             workflow_info = parse_workflow_info(parts, relval_dir)
             if "number" in workflow_info:
                 workflows_with_error.append(workflow_info)
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ def read_matrix_log_file(matrix_log):
 #
 def cmd_to_addon_test(command, addon_dir):
     try:
-        cmdMatch = re.match("^\[(.+):(\d+)\] +(.*)", command)
+        cmdMatch = re.match("^\\[(.+):(\\d+)\\] +(.*)", command)
         addon_subdir = cmdMatch.group(1)
         logfile = "step%s.log" % cmdMatch.group(2)
         e, o = run_cmd("ls -d %s/%s/%s 2>/dev/null | tail -1" % (addon_dir, addon_subdir, logfile))
diff --git a/runPyRelValThread.py b/runPyRelValThread.py
index 76b1f02ee5ae..4dc2c2f09976 100755
--- a/runPyRelValThread.py
+++ b/runPyRelValThread.py
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ def runThreadMatrix(basedir, workflow, args="", logger=None, wf_err=None):
         False,
         wfdir,
     )
-    logRE = re.compile("^(.*/[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+|)_([^/]+))/step1_dasquery.log$")
+    logRE = re.compile("^(.*/[0-9]+(\\.[0-9]+|)_([^/]+))/step1_dasquery.log$")
     for logFile in glob.glob(outfolder + "/step1_dasquery.log"):
         m = logRE.match(logFile)
         if not m:
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ def runThreadMatrix(basedir, workflow, args="", logger=None, wf_err=None):
 def find_argv(args, arg):
     val = ""
     fullval = ""
-    reX = re.compile("\s*((" + arg + ")(\s+|=)([^ ]+))")
+    reX = re.compile("\\s*((" + arg + ")(\\s+|=)([^ ]+))")
     m = reX.search(args)
     if m:
         glen = len(m.groups())
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ def getWorkFlows(self, args):
             + self.args["s"]
             + " "
             + self.args["l"]
-            + " |  grep -v ' workflows with ' | grep -E '^[0-9][0-9]*(\.[0-9][0-9]*|)\s\s*' | sort -nr | awk '{print $1}'"
+            + " |  grep -v ' workflows with ' | grep -E '^[0-9][0-9]*(\\.[0-9][0-9]*|)\\s\\s*' | sort -nr | awk '{print $1}'"
         )
         print("RunTheMatrix>>", workflowsCmd)
         cmsstat, workflows = doCmd(workflowsCmd)
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ def update_runall(self):
         for logFile in glob.glob(self.basedir + "/*/workflow.log"):
             inFile = open(logFile)
             for line in inFile:
-                if re.match("^\s*(\d+\s+)+tests passed,\s+(\d+\s+)+failed\s*$", line):
+                if re.match("^\\s*(\\d+\\s+)+tests passed,\\s+(\\d+\\s+)+failed\\s*$", line):
                     res = line.strip().split(" tests passed, ")
                     res[0] = res[0].split()
                     res[1] = res[1].replace(" failed", "").split()
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ def update_wftime(self):
                 inFile = open(logFile)
                 line = inFile.readline().strip()
                 inFile.close()
-                m = re.match("^(\d+)(\.\d+|)$", line)
+                m = re.match("^(\\d+)(\\.\\d+|)$", line)
                 if m:
                     time_info[wf] = int(m.group(1))
             except Exception as e:
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ def update_wftime(self):
 
     def parseLog(self):
         logData = {}
-        logRE = re.compile("^.*/([1-9][0-9]*(\.[0-9]+|))_[^/]+/step([1-9])_.*\.log$")
+        logRE = re.compile("^.*/([1-9][0-9]*(\\.[0-9]+|))_[^/]+/step([1-9])_.*\\.log$")
         max_steps = 0
         for logFile in glob.glob(self.basedir + "/[1-9]*/step[0-9]*.log"):
             m = logRE.match(logFile)
diff --git a/tests/test_logreaderUtils.py b/tests/test_logreaderUtils.py
index ef527ffaebb1..b27ef94e9635 100644
--- a/tests/test_logreaderUtils.py
+++ b/tests/test_logreaderUtils.py
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ def test_unittestlogs(self):
                 "control_type": ResultTypeEnum.ISSUE,
             },
             {
-                "str_to_match": '===== Test "([^\s]+)" ====',
+                "str_to_match": '===== Test "([^\\s]+)" ====',
                 "name": "{0}",
                 "control_type": ResultTypeEnum.TEST,
             },
diff --git a/utils/cmsdist_pip_pkgs_update.py b/utils/cmsdist_pip_pkgs_update.py
index d3e4e11e26ef..4b05a7c31d7f 100755
--- a/utils/cmsdist_pip_pkgs_update.py
+++ b/utils/cmsdist_pip_pkgs_update.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ def check_python_require(py_str, condition):
                 req.pop()
                 regex = True
             if regex:
-                req_str = "^" + ".".join(req) + "\..+$"
+                req_str = "^" + ".".join(req) + r"\..+$"
                 if op == "==":
                     if not re.match(req_str, py_str):
                         return False
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ def read_requirements(cmsdist):
                     if exists(exfile):
                         with open(exfile) as xref:
                             for xline in xref.readlines():
-                                m = re.match("^%define\s+pip_name\s+([^\s]+)\s*$", xline.strip())
+                                m = re.match(r"^%define\s+pip_name\s+([^\s]+)\s*$", xline.strip())
                                 if m:
                                     req_data[-1]["data"]["pip_name"] = m.group(1)
                                     break
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ def check_updates(req_data):
         if xline == "":
             continue
         if xline.startswith("#"):
-            m = re.match("#NO_AUTO_UPDATE:((\d+):|).*", xline)
+            m = re.match(r"#NO_AUTO_UPDATE:((\d+):|).*", xline)
             if m:
                 try:
                     ignore_count = int(m.group(2))
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ def check_updates(req_data):
                             print(m)
             if ov == v:
                 continue
-            m = re.match("^\s*%s\s*==\s*%s(\s*;.+|)$" % (p, ov), data["line"])
+            m = re.match(r"^\s*%s\s*==\s*%s(\s*;.+|)$" % (p, ov), data["line"])
             try:
                 data["line"] = "%s==%s%s" % (p, v, m.group(1))
                 print("NEW:", p, ov, v)