diff --git a/t/t5520-pull.sh b/t/t5520-pull.sh
index 37535d63a9..9fae07cdfa 100755
--- a/t/t5520-pull.sh
+++ b/t/t5520-pull.sh
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ test_pull_autostash_fail () {
 	echo dirty >new_file &&
 	git add new_file &&
 	test_must_fail git pull "$@" . copy 2>err &&
-	test_i18ngrep "\(uncommitted changes.\)\|\(overwritten by merge:\)" err
+	test_i18ngrep -E "uncommitted changes.|overwritten by merge:" err
 }
 
 test_expect_success setup '