diff --git a/meshmode/version.py b/meshmode/version.py
index 6e2608decc7539efb57dfce074eba37b6451fb2d..19ec52d0e6e5f79bff804ccc19c3273843ad0488 100644
--- a/meshmode/version.py
+++ b/meshmode/version.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from importlib import metadata
 def _parse_version(version: str) -> tuple[tuple[int, ...], str]:
     import re
 
-    m = re.match("^([0-9.]+)([a-z0-9]*?)$", VERSION_TEXT)
+    m = re.match(r"^([0-9.]+)([a-z0-9]*?)$", VERSION_TEXT)
     assert m is not None
 
     return tuple(int(nr) for nr in m.group(1).split(".")), m.group(2)