diff --git a/specifyweb/backend/stored_queries/tests/test_views/test_export_web_portal.py b/specifyweb/backend/stored_queries/tests/test_views/test_export_web_portal.py
index 2a1505b7761..0452a93e31a 100644
--- a/specifyweb/backend/stored_queries/tests/test_views/test_export_web_portal.py
+++ b/specifyweb/backend/stored_queries/tests/test_views/test_export_web_portal.py
@@ -8,6 +8,15 @@
 
 
 class TestExportWebPortal(SQLAlchemySetup):
+    def test_clean_cell_preserves_literal_java_escape_sequences(self):
+        from specifyweb.backend.stored_queries.web_portal_export import _clean_cell
+
+        self.assertEqual(
+            _clean_cell(r"literal \r, \b, \f and \\"),
+            r"literal \\r, \\b, \\f and \\\\",
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(_clean_cell("line\nbreak\r"), "line break ")
+
     @patch("specifyweb.backend.stored_queries.views.Thread")
     def test_export(self, thread: Mock):
         c = Client()
diff --git a/specifyweb/backend/stored_queries/web_portal_export.py b/specifyweb/backend/stored_queries/web_portal_export.py
index 4180ef9f105..e5f5991c8ff 100644
--- a/specifyweb/backend/stored_queries/web_portal_export.py
+++ b/specifyweb/backend/stored_queries/web_portal_export.py
@@ -81,7 +81,11 @@ def _schema_localization_or_empty(collection) -> dict[str, Any]:
 
 
 def _clean_cell(value: Any) -> str:
-    return re.sub("\r|\n", " ", str(value if value is not None else ''))
+    # The portal unescapes Java-style sequences in exported text. See #8644!
+    # Escape literal sequences such as ``\\r`` by escaping their backslash before
+    # the value is written to CSV.
+    text = str(value if value is not None else '')
+    return re.sub("\r|\n", " ", text).replace('\\', '\\\\')
 
 
 def _clean_portal_attachment_text(value: Any) -> str: