diff --git a/lib/internal/util/debuglog.js b/lib/internal/util/debuglog.js
index 06a4f8a2398555..c8d8178fdd1617 100644
--- a/lib/internal/util/debuglog.js
+++ b/lib/internal/util/debuglog.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ const {
   NumberPrototypeToFixed,
   ObjectDefineProperty,
   RegExp,
+  RegExpEscape,
   RegExpPrototypeExec,
   SafeArrayIterator,
   SafeMap,
@@ -33,9 +34,9 @@ function initializeDebugEnv(debugEnv) {
   debugImpls = { __proto__: null };
   if (debugEnv) {
     // This is run before any user code, it's OK not to use primordials.
-    debugEnv = debugEnv.replace(/[|\\{}()[\]^$+?.]/g, '\\$&')
-      .replaceAll('*', '.*')
-      .replaceAll(',', '$|^');
+    debugEnv = RegExpEscape(debugEnv)
+      .replaceAll(RegExpEscape('*'), '[^.]*')
+      .replaceAll(RegExpEscape(','), '$|^');
     const debugEnvRegex = new RegExp(`^${debugEnv}$`, 'i');
     testEnabled = (str) => RegExpPrototypeExec(debugEnvRegex, str) !== null;
   } else {