diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer/src/utils/to-path-components.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer/src/utils/to-path-components.js
index 085a53b6..26835e7a 100644
--- a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer/src/utils/to-path-components.js
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer/src/utils/to-path-components.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ const toPathComponents = (path = '') => {
   // split on / unless escaped with \
   return (path
     .trim()
-    .match(/([^\\^/]|\\\/)+/g) || [])
+    .match(/([^\\/]|\\\/)+/g) || [])
     .filter(Boolean)
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer/test/utils.spec.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer/test/utils.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3943bae6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer/test/utils.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/* eslint-env mocha */
+
+import { expect } from 'aegir/utils/chai.js'
+import toPathComponents from '../src/utils/to-path-components.js'
+
+describe('toPathComponents', () => {
+  it('splits on unescaped "/" characters', () => {
+    const path = 'foo/bar/baz'
+    const components = toPathComponents(path)
+    expect(components.length).to.eq(3)
+  })
+
+  it('does not split on escaped "/" characters', () => {
+    const path = 'foo\\/bar/baz'
+    const components = toPathComponents(path)
+    expect(components.length).to.eq(2)
+  })
+
+  // see https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs/issues/177 for context
+  it('does not split on "^" characters', () => {
+    const path = 'foo/bar^baz^^qux'
+    const components = toPathComponents(path)
+    expect(components.length).to.eq(2)
+  })
+})