diff --git a/youtube_dl/utils.py b/youtube_dl/utils.py
index 548ce12e2..34c16d95a 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/utils.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/utils.py
@@ -2110,8 +2110,8 @@ def js_to_json(code):
         return '"%s"' % v
 
     return re.sub(r'''(?sx)
-        "(?:[^"\\]*(?:\\\\|\\['"nurtbfx/\n]))*[^"\\]*"|
-        '(?:[^'\\]*(?:\\\\|\\['"nurtbfx/\n]))*[^'\\]*'|
+        "(?:[^'\\]|\\['"nurtbfx/\\])*"|
+        '(?:[^"\\]|\\['"nurtbfx/\\])*'|
         ,(?=(?:\s|(?:/\*(?:(?!\*/)(?:\n|.))*\*/))*[\]}])|
         /\*(?:(?!\*/)(?:\n|.))*\*/|[a-zA-Z_][.a-zA-Z_0-9]*|
         \b(?:0[xX][0-9a-fA-F]+|0+[0-7]+)(?:\s*:)?|