diff --git a/postgres-protocol/src/escape/mod.rs b/postgres-protocol/src/escape/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4b3b56cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/postgres-protocol/src/escape/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+//! Provides functions for escaping literals and identifiers for use
+//! in SQL queries.
+//!
+//! Prefer parameterized queries where possible; see
+//! [`Client::query`](crate::Client::query). Do not escape parameters.
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test;
+
+/// Escape a literal and surround result with single quotes. Not
+/// recommended in most cases.
+///
+/// If input contains backslashes, result will be of the form `
+/// E'...'` so it is safe to use regardless of the setting of
+/// standard_conforming_strings.
+pub fn escape_literal(input: &str) -> String {
+    escape_internal(input, false)
+}
+
+/// Escape an identifier and surround result with double quotes.
+pub fn escape_identifier(input: &str) -> String {
+    escape_internal(input, true)
+}
+
+// Translation of PostgreSQL libpq's PQescapeInternal(). Does not
+// require a connection because input string is known to be valid
+// UTF-8.
+//
+// Escape arbitrary strings.  If as_ident is true, we escape the
+// result as an identifier; if false, as a literal.  The result is
+// returned in a newly allocated buffer.  If we fail due to an
+// encoding violation or out of memory condition, we return NULL,
+// storing an error message into conn.
+fn escape_internal(input: &str, as_ident: bool) -> String {
+    let mut num_backslashes = 0;
+    let mut num_quotes = 0;
+    let quote_char = if as_ident { '"' } else { '\'' };
+
+    // Scan the string for characters that must be escaped.
+    for ch in input.chars() {
+        if ch == quote_char {
+            num_quotes += 1;
+        } else if ch == '\\' {
+            num_backslashes += 1;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Allocate output String.
+    let mut result_size = input.len() + num_quotes + 3; // two quotes, plus a NUL
+    if !as_ident && num_backslashes > 0 {
+        result_size += num_backslashes + 2;
+    }
+
+    let mut output = String::with_capacity(result_size);
+
+    // If we are escaping a literal that contains backslashes, we use
+    // the escape string syntax so that the result is correct under
+    // either value of standard_conforming_strings.  We also emit a
+    // leading space in this case, to guard against the possibility
+    // that the result might be interpolated immediately following an
+    // identifier.
+    if !as_ident && num_backslashes > 0 {
+        output.push(' ');
+        output.push('E');
+    }
+
+    // Opening quote.
+    output.push(quote_char);
+
+    // Use fast path if possible.
+    //
+    // We've already verified that the input string is well-formed in
+    // the current encoding.  If it contains no quotes and, in the
+    // case of literal-escaping, no backslashes, then we can just copy
+    // it directly to the output buffer, adding the necessary quotes.
+    //
+    // If not, we must rescan the input and process each character
+    // individually.
+    if num_quotes == 0 && (num_backslashes == 0 || as_ident) {
+        output.push_str(input);
+    } else {
+        for ch in input.chars() {
+            if ch == quote_char || (!as_ident && ch == '\\') {
+                output.push(ch);
+            }
+            output.push(ch);
+        }
+    }
+
+    output.push(quote_char);
+
+    output
+}
diff --git a/postgres-protocol/src/escape/test.rs b/postgres-protocol/src/escape/test.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4816a103
--- /dev/null
+++ b/postgres-protocol/src/escape/test.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+use crate::escape::{escape_identifier, escape_literal};
+
+#[test]
+fn test_escape_idenifier() {
+    assert_eq!(escape_identifier("foo"), String::from("\"foo\""));
+    assert_eq!(escape_identifier("f\\oo"), String::from("\"f\\oo\""));
+    assert_eq!(escape_identifier("f'oo"), String::from("\"f'oo\""));
+    assert_eq!(escape_identifier("f\"oo"), String::from("\"f\"\"oo\""));
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_escape_literal() {
+    assert_eq!(escape_literal("foo"), String::from("'foo'"));
+    assert_eq!(escape_literal("f\\oo"), String::from(" E'f\\\\oo'"));
+    assert_eq!(escape_literal("f'oo"), String::from("'f''oo'"));
+    assert_eq!(escape_literal("f\"oo"), String::from("'f\"oo'"));
+}
diff --git a/postgres-protocol/src/lib.rs b/postgres-protocol/src/lib.rs
index 9ebbcba5..b4374afa 100644
--- a/postgres-protocol/src/lib.rs
+++ b/postgres-protocol/src/lib.rs
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ use bytes::{BufMut, BytesMut};
 use std::io;
 
 pub mod authentication;
+pub mod escape;
 pub mod message;
 pub mod types;