diff --git a/autotests/src/searchbar_test.h b/autotests/src/searchbar_test.h
--- a/autotests/src/searchbar_test.h
+++ b/autotests/src/searchbar_test.h
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@
     void testReplaceInBlockMode();
 
     void testReplaceManyCapturesBug365124();
+
+    void testReplaceEscapeSequence_data();
+    void testReplaceEscapeSequence();
 };
 
 #endif
diff --git a/autotests/src/searchbar_test.cpp b/autotests/src/searchbar_test.cpp
--- a/autotests/src/searchbar_test.cpp
+++ b/autotests/src/searchbar_test.cpp
@@ -639,5 +639,44 @@
     QCOMPARE(doc.text(), QString("one::two::three::four::five::six::seven::eight::nine::ten::eleven::twelve::thirteen\n"));
 }
 
-#include "moc_searchbar_test.cpp"
+void SearchBarTest::testReplaceEscapeSequence_data()
+{
+    QTest::addColumn<QString>("textBefore");
+    QTest::addColumn<QString>("textAfter");
+    QTest::addColumn<Cursor>("cursorBefore");
+    QTest::addColumn<Cursor>("cursorAfter");
+
+    testNewRow() << QStringLiteral("a\n") << QStringLiteral("a ") << Cursor(1, 0) << Cursor(0, 2);
+    testNewRow() << QStringLiteral("a\nb\n") << QStringLiteral("a b ") << Cursor(2, 0) << Cursor(0, 4);
+    testNewRow() << QStringLiteral("\n\n\n") << QStringLiteral("   ") << Cursor(3, 0) << Cursor(0, 3);
+}
+
+void SearchBarTest::testReplaceEscapeSequence()
+{
+    QFETCH(QString, textBefore);
+    QFETCH(QString, textAfter);
+    QFETCH(Cursor, cursorBefore);
+    QFETCH(Cursor, cursorAfter);
+
+    // testcase for https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=381080
+    KTextEditor::DocumentPrivate doc;
+    KTextEditor::ViewPrivate view(&doc, nullptr);
+    KateViewConfig config(&view);
 
+    doc.setText(textBefore);
+    view.setCursorPosition(cursorBefore);
+    QCOMPARE(view.cursorPosition(), cursorBefore);
+
+    KateSearchBar bar(true, &view, &config);
+
+    bar.setSearchMode(KateSearchBar::MODE_ESCAPE_SEQUENCES);
+    bar.setSearchPattern(QStringLiteral("\\n"));
+    bar.setReplacementPattern(QStringLiteral(" "));
+
+    bar.replaceAll();
+
+    QCOMPARE(doc.text(), textAfter);
+    QCOMPARE(view.cursorPosition(), cursorAfter);
+}
+
+#include "moc_searchbar_test.cpp"
diff --git a/src/search/kateplaintextsearch.cpp b/src/search/kateplaintextsearch.cpp
--- a/src/search/kateplaintextsearch.cpp
+++ b/src/search/kateplaintextsearch.cpp
@@ -86,14 +86,19 @@
                     if (forMin == j && startCol < inputRange.start().column()) {
                         break;
                     }
-                    if (!hayLine.endsWith(needleLine, m_caseSensitivity)) {
+
+                    // NOTE: QString("")::endsWith("") is false in Qt, therefore we need the additional checks.
+                    const bool endsWith = hayLine.endsWith(needleLine, m_caseSensitivity) || (hayLine.isEmpty() && needleLine.isEmpty());
+                    if (!endsWith) {
                         break;
                     }
                 } else if (k == needleLines.count() - 1) {
                     // last line
                     const int maxRight = (j + k == inputRange.end().line()) ? inputRange.end().column() : hayLine.length();
 
-                    if (hayLine.startsWith(needleLine, m_caseSensitivity) && needleLine.length() <= maxRight) {
+                    // NOTE: QString("")::startsWith("") is false in Qt, therefore we need the additional checks.
+                    const bool startsWith = hayLine.startsWith(needleLine, m_caseSensitivity) || (hayLine.isEmpty() && needleLine.isEmpty());
+                    if (startsWith && needleLine.length() <= maxRight) {
                         return KTextEditor::Range(j, startCol, j + k, needleLine.length());
                     }
                 } else {