diff --git a/testsuite.cpp b/testsuite.cpp
index b37532c78..06e096b59 100644
--- a/testsuite.cpp
+++ b/testsuite.cpp
@@ -76,6 +76,26 @@ bool TestFixture::runTest(const char testname[])
     std::cout << classname << "::" << testname << "\n";
     return true;
 }
+
+static std::string writestr( const std::string &str )
+{
+    std::ostringstream ostr;
+    ostr << "\"";
+    for (unsigned int i = 0; i < str.length(); ++i)
+    {
+        char ch = str[i];
+        if ( ch == '\n' )
+            ostr << "\\n";
+        else if ( ch == '\t' )
+            ostr << "\\t";
+        else if ( ch == '\"' )
+            ostr << "\\\"";
+        else
+            ostr << std::string(1, ch);
+    }
+    ostr << "\"";
+    return ostr.str();
+}
 
 void TestFixture::assertEquals(const char *filename, int linenr, const std::string &expected, const std::string &actual)
 {
@@ -83,9 +103,9 @@ void TestFixture::assertEquals(const char *filename, int linenr, const std::stri
     {
         errmsg << "Assertion failed in " << filename << " at line " << linenr << std::endl
                << "Expected:" << std::endl
-               << expected << std::endl
+               << writestr(expected) << std::endl
                << "Actual:" << std::endl
-               << actual << std::endl;
+               << writestr(actual) << std::endl;
     }
 }