diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/src/candidate.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/src/candidate.ts
index 4e79b818ea08..4e9104bacf01 100644
--- a/packages/tailwindcss/src/candidate.ts
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/src/candidate.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import { isValidArbitrary } from './utils/is-valid-arbitrary'
 import { segment } from './utils/segment'
 import * as ValueParser from './value-parser'
 import { walk, WalkAction } from './walk'
+import { normalizeEscapedKey } from './utils/escape'
+
 
 const COLON = 0x3a
 const DASH = 0x2d
@@ -12,6 +14,8 @@ const LOWER_A = 0x61
 const LOWER_Z = 0x7a
 const IS_VALID_NAMED_VALUE = /^[a-zA-Z0-9_.%-]+$/
 
+
+
 export type ArbitraryUtilityValue = {
   kind: 'arbitrary'
 
@@ -76,16 +80,13 @@ export type ArbitraryModifier = {
   value: string
 }
 
-export type NamedModifier = {
-  kind: 'named'
+let candidate = normalizeEscapedKey(match[1])
 
-  /**
-   * ```
-   * bg-red-500/50
-   *            ^^
-   * ```
-   */
-  value: string
+export type NamedModifier = {
+  candidate.value = {
+  kind: 'named',
+  value: normalizeEscapedKey(value),
+  fraction,
 }
 
 export type CandidateModifier = ArbitraryModifier | NamedModifier
diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/src/theme.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/src/theme.ts
index 073fb242f1e0..b347e284e625 100644
--- a/packages/tailwindcss/src/theme.ts
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/src/theme.ts
@@ -302,3 +302,8 @@ export class Theme {
 }
 
 export type ThemeKey = `--${string}`
+
+
+export function normalizeEscapedKey(key: string) {
+  return key.replace(/\\(.)/g, '$1')
+}
diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/src/utils/escape.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/src/utils/escape.ts
index cbcfa62a0b42..b0f5c48f0f7f 100644
--- a/packages/tailwindcss/src/utils/escape.ts
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/src/utils/escape.ts
@@ -79,3 +79,8 @@ export function unescape(escaped: string) {
       : match[1]
   })
 }
+
+
+export function normalizeEscapedKey(key: string) {
+  return key.replace(/\\(.)/g, '$1')
+}
diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/src/utils/parseThemeUtil.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/src/utils/parseThemeUtil.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e07d3570e19f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/src/utils/parseThemeUtil.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import { normalizeEscapedKey } from './escape'
+
+let normalizedKey = normalizeEscapedKey(key)
+return theme[normalizedKey] ?? theme[key]
diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/tests/ui.spec.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/tests/ui.spec.ts
index 0c3534efd748..3cb8026f77cd 100644
--- a/packages/tailwindcss/tests/ui.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/tests/ui.spec.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import path from 'node:path'
 import { optimize } from '../../@tailwindcss-node/src/optimize'
 import { compile } from '../src'
 import { segment } from '../src/utils/segment'
+import { resolveConfig } from '../src/compat/config/resolve-config'
 
 const html = String.raw
 const css = String.raw
@@ -2258,3 +2259,16 @@ async function getPropertyValue(
     [selector, property] as const,
   )
 }
+
+
+test('supports escaped characters in theme keys', () => {
+  let config = resolveConfig({
+    theme: {
+      colors: {
+        'brand\\:primary': '#ff0000',
+      },
+    },
+  })
+
+  expect(config.theme.colors['brand\\:primary']).toBe('#ff0000')
+})
diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/tests/utilities.test.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/tests/utilities.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..bb500bd23ddc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/tests/utilities.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+test('generates utilities for escaped theme keys', async () => {
+  let css = await run(
+    '@tailwind utilities;',
+    {
+      theme: {
+        colors: {
+          'brand\\:primary': '#ff0000',
+        },
+      },
+      content: [
+        {
+          raw: '<div class="bg-brand\\:primary"></div>',
+        },
+      ],
+    }
+  )
+
+  expect(css).toContain('.bg-brand\\:primary')
+  expect(css).toContain('background-color: #ff0000')
+})