diff --git a/guide.md b/guide.md
index 344b76a..a8808e5 100644
--- a/guide.md
+++ b/guide.md
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ If your project contains multiple services which you wish to version independent
 | Value | Description |
 | --- | --- |
 | `tag_prefix` | The prefix to use for the tag. Defaults to `v`, generally you will use either `v` or an empty string. Note that the tag format is distinct from the version. Tags used for versioning must always follow the pattern `{tag_prefix}{major}.{minor}.{patch}` with and optional `-{namespace}` suffix. |
-| `major_pattern` and `minor_pattern` | These strings are used to determine the type of version to create. If any commit message since matches the `major_pattern` the major version will be incremented, if it matches the `minor_pattern` the minor version will be incremented. If neither pattern matches, the patch version will be incremented. These can be specified either as strings or as regular expression by wrapping the expression in `/`. The defaults follow [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/): `/!:|BREAKING CHANGE:/` for major and `/feat/(\(.+\))?:/` for minor. |
+| `major_pattern` and `minor_pattern` | These strings are used to determine the type of version to create. If any commit message since matches the `major_pattern` the major version will be incremented, if it matches the `minor_pattern` the minor version will be incremented. If neither pattern matches, the patch version will be incremented. These can be specified either as strings or as regular expression by wrapping the expression in `/`. The defaults follow [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/): `/!:|BREAKING CHANGE:/` for major and `/^feat(\(.+\))?:/` for minor. |
 | `version_format` | A value such as `${major}.${minor}.${patch}-prerelease${increment}` that will be used to format the version value of the output, **formatting this value is the only effect of this input parameter!** It is not used for parsing or any other purpose. It is a convenient alternative to formatting the output in a subsequent step. |
 | `user_format_type` | Indicates the format of the `authors` output. Can be `json` or `yaml`. |
 | `enable_prerelease_mode` | If true, major changes to versions starting with 0 will result in a minor change, preventing ths initial version `1.0.0`` from being created automatically by someone checking in a commit with the major pattern. |
diff --git a/src/ActionConfig.ts b/src/ActionConfig.ts
index 328f11e..babe17f 100644
--- a/src/ActionConfig.ts
+++ b/src/ActionConfig.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ export class ActionConfig {
   /** A string which indicates the flags used by the `majorPattern` regular expression. */
   public majorFlags: string = "";
   /** A string which, if present in a git commit, indicates that a change represents a minor (feature) change. Wrap with '/' to match using a regular expression. */
-  public minorPattern: string = "/^feat(\(.+\))?:/";
+  public minorPattern: string = "/^feat(\\(.+\\))?:/";
   /** A string which indicates the flags used by the `minorPattern` regular expression. */
   public minorFlags: string = "";
   /** Pattern to use when formatting output version */
diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index 7ea5df9..f88d8fd 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ program
   .option(
     "-m, --minor-pattern <pattern>",
     "Regex pattern for minor version bumps",
-    "/^feat(\(.+\))?:/",
+    "/^feat(\\(.+\\))?:/",
   )
   .option("--minor-flags <flags>", "Flags for minor pattern regex", "")
   .option(