diff --git a/kernel/debug/kdb/kdb_io.c b/kernel/debug/kdb/kdb_io.c
index 3a5184eb6977..cfc054fd8097 100644
--- a/kernel/debug/kdb/kdb_io.c
+++ b/kernel/debug/kdb/kdb_io.c
@@ -49,6 +49,65 @@ static int kgdb_transition_check(char *buffer)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/**
+ * kdb_handle_escape() - validity check on an accumulated escape sequence.
+ * @buf:	Accumulated escape characters to be examined. Note that buf
+ *		is not a string, it is an array of characters and need not be
+ *		nil terminated.
+ * @sz:		Number of accumulated escape characters.
+ *
+ * Return: -1 if the escape sequence is unwanted, 0 if it is incomplete,
+ * otherwise it returns a mapped key value to pass to the upper layers.
+ */
+static int kdb_handle_escape(char *buf, size_t sz)
+{
+	char *lastkey = buf + sz - 1;
+
+	switch (sz) {
+	case 1:
+		if (*lastkey == '\e')
+			return 0;
+		break;
+
+	case 2: /* \e<something> */
+		if (*lastkey == '[')
+			return 0;
+		break;
+
+	case 3:
+		switch (*lastkey) {
+		case 'A': /* \e[A, up arrow */
+			return 16;
+		case 'B': /* \e[B, down arrow */
+			return 14;
+		case 'C': /* \e[C, right arrow */
+			return 6;
+		case 'D': /* \e[D, left arrow */
+			return 2;
+		case '1': /* \e[<1,3,4>], may be home, del, end */
+		case '3':
+		case '4':
+			return 0;
+		}
+		break;
+
+	case 4:
+		if (*lastkey == '~') {
+			switch (buf[2]) {
+			case '1': /* \e[1~, home */
+				return 1;
+			case '3': /* \e[3~, del */
+				return 4;
+			case '4': /* \e[4~, end */
+				return 5;
+			}
+		}
+		break;
+	}
+
+	return -1;
+}
+
 static int kdb_read_get_key(char *buffer, size_t bufsize)
 {
 #define ESCAPE_UDELAY 1000
@@ -102,68 +161,15 @@ static int kdb_read_get_key(char *buffer, size_t bufsize)
 				escape_delay = 2;
 				continue;
 			}
-			if (ped - escape_data == 1) {
-				/* \e */
-				continue;
-			} else if (ped - escape_data == 2) {
-				/* \e<something> */
-				if (key != '[')
-					escape_delay = 2;
-				continue;
-			} else if (ped - escape_data == 3) {
-				/* \e[<something> */
-				int mapkey = 0;
-				switch (key) {
-				case 'A': /* \e[A, up arrow */
-					mapkey = 16;
-					break;
-				case 'B': /* \e[B, down arrow */
-					mapkey = 14;
-					break;
-				case 'C': /* \e[C, right arrow */
-					mapkey = 6;
-					break;
-				case 'D': /* \e[D, left arrow */
-					mapkey = 2;
-					break;
-				case '1': /* dropthrough */
-				case '3': /* dropthrough */
-				/* \e[<1,3,4>], may be home, del, end */
-				case '4':
-					mapkey = -1;
-					break;
-				}
-				if (mapkey != -1) {
-					if (mapkey > 0) {
-						escape_data[0] = mapkey;
-						escape_data[1] = '\0';
-					}
-					escape_delay = 2;
-				}
-				continue;
-			} else if (ped - escape_data == 4) {
-				/* \e[<1,3,4><something> */
-				int mapkey = 0;
-				if (key == '~') {
-					switch (escape_data[2]) {
-					case '1': /* \e[1~, home */
-						mapkey = 1;
-						break;
-					case '3': /* \e[3~, del */
-						mapkey = 4;
-						break;
-					case '4': /* \e[4~, end */
-						mapkey = 5;
-						break;
-					}
-				}
-				if (mapkey > 0) {
-					escape_data[0] = mapkey;
-					escape_data[1] = '\0';
-				}
-				escape_delay = 2;
-				continue;
+
+			key = kdb_handle_escape(escape_data, ped - escape_data);
+			if (key > 0) {
+				escape_data[0] = key;
+				escape_data[1] = '\0';
 			}
+			if (key)
+				escape_delay = 2;
+			continue;
 		}
 		break;	/* A key to process */
 	}