diff --git a/django/template/defaultfilters.py b/django/template/defaultfilters.py
index 1f744f1958..bea5938e5b 100644
--- a/django/template/defaultfilters.py
+++ b/django/template/defaultfilters.py
@@ -69,22 +69,22 @@ capfirst.is_safe=True
 capfirst = stringfilter(capfirst)
 
 _base_js_escapes = (
-    ('\\', r'\x5C'),
-    ('\'', r'\x27'),
-    ('"', r'\x22'),
-    ('>', r'\x3E'),
-    ('<', r'\x3C'),
-    ('&', r'\x26'),
-    ('=', r'\x3D'),
-    ('-', r'\x2D'),
-    (';', r'\x3B'),
+    ('\\', r'\u005C'),
+    ('\'', r'\u0027'),
+    ('"', r'\u0022'),
+    ('>', r'\u003E'),
+    ('<', r'\u003C'),
+    ('&', r'\u0026'),
+    ('=', r'\u003D'),
+    ('-', r'\u002D'),
+    (';', r'\u003B'),
     (u'\u2028', r'\u2028'),
     (u'\u2029', r'\u2029')
 )
 
 # Escape every ASCII character with a value less than 32.
 _js_escapes = (_base_js_escapes +
-               tuple([('%c' % z, '\\x%02X' % z) for z in range(32)]))
+               tuple([('%c' % z, '\\u%04X' % z) for z in range(32)]))
 
 def escapejs(value):
     """Hex encodes characters for use in JavaScript strings."""
diff --git a/docs/ref/templates/builtins.txt b/docs/ref/templates/builtins.txt
index c613c58107..9e8f9825d6 100644
--- a/docs/ref/templates/builtins.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/templates/builtins.txt
@@ -906,8 +906,8 @@ use keyword syntax::
 
     {% url path.to.some_view arg1=v1,arg2=v2 %}
 
-Do not mix both positional and keyword syntax in a single call. All arguments 
-required by the URLconf should be present. 
+Do not mix both positional and keyword syntax in a single call. All arguments
+required by the URLconf should be present.
 
 For example, suppose you have a view, ``app_views.client``, whose URLconf
 takes a client ID (here, ``client()`` is a method inside the views file
@@ -1262,7 +1262,7 @@ For example::
     {{ value|escapejs }}
 
 If ``value`` is ``"testing\r\njavascript \'string" <b>escaping</b>"``,
-the output will be ``"testing\\x0D\\x0Ajavascript \\x27string\\x22 \\x3Cb\\x3Eescaping\\x3C/b\\x3E"``.
+the output will be ``"testing\\u000D\\u000Ajavascript \\u0027string\\u0022 \\u003Cb\\u003Eescaping\\u003C/b\\u003E"``.
 
 .. templatefilter:: filesizeformat
 
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/defaultfilters/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/defaultfilters/tests.py
index 0fe4673063..abc080db48 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/defaultfilters/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/defaultfilters/tests.py
@@ -72,16 +72,16 @@ u'\\\\ : backslashes, too'
 u'Hello world'
 
 >>> escapejs(u'"double quotes" and \'single quotes\'')
-u'\\x22double quotes\\x22 and \\x27single quotes\\x27'
+u'\\u0022double quotes\\u0022 and \\u0027single quotes\\u0027'
 
 >>> escapejs(ur'\ : backslashes, too')
-u'\\x5C : backslashes, too'
+u'\\u005C : backslashes, too'
 
 >>> escapejs(u'and lots of whitespace: \r\n\t\v\f\b')
-u'and lots of whitespace: \\x0D\\x0A\\x09\\x0B\\x0C\\x08'
+u'and lots of whitespace: \\u000D\\u000A\\u0009\\u000B\\u000C\\u0008'
 
 >>> escapejs(ur'<script>and this</script>')
-u'\\x3Cscript\\x3Eand this\\x3C/script\\x3E'
+u'\\u003Cscript\\u003Eand this\\u003C/script\\u003E'
 
 >>> escapejs(u'paragraph separator:\u2029and line separator:\u2028')
 u'paragraph separator:\\u2029and line separator:\\u2028'
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/templates/filters.py b/tests/regressiontests/templates/filters.py
index 82a056e7dc..3d6284e881 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/templates/filters.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/templates/filters.py
@@ -295,8 +295,8 @@ def get_filter_tests():
         'autoescape-stringfilter03': (r'{{ safe|capfirst }}', {'safe': SafeClass()}, 'You &gt; me'),
         'autoescape-stringfilter04': (r'{% autoescape off %}{{ safe|capfirst }}{% endautoescape %}', {'safe': SafeClass()}, 'You &gt; me'),
 
-        'escapejs01': (r'{{ a|escapejs }}', {'a': 'testing\r\njavascript \'string" <b>escaping</b>'}, 'testing\\x0D\\x0Ajavascript \\x27string\\x22 \\x3Cb\\x3Eescaping\\x3C/b\\x3E'),
-        'escapejs02': (r'{% autoescape off %}{{ a|escapejs }}{% endautoescape %}', {'a': 'testing\r\njavascript \'string" <b>escaping</b>'}, 'testing\\x0D\\x0Ajavascript \\x27string\\x22 \\x3Cb\\x3Eescaping\\x3C/b\\x3E'),
+        'escapejs01': (r'{{ a|escapejs }}', {'a': 'testing\r\njavascript \'string" <b>escaping</b>'}, 'testing\\u000D\\u000Ajavascript \\u0027string\\u0022 \\u003Cb\\u003Eescaping\\u003C/b\\u003E'),
+        'escapejs02': (r'{% autoescape off %}{{ a|escapejs }}{% endautoescape %}', {'a': 'testing\r\njavascript \'string" <b>escaping</b>'}, 'testing\\u000D\\u000Ajavascript \\u0027string\\u0022 \\u003Cb\\u003Eescaping\\u003C/b\\u003E'),
 
 
         # length filter.