diff --git a/files/assemble b/files/assemble
index a8c78256e23..f4a60caf230 100644
--- a/files/assemble
+++ b/files/assemble
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@ def assemble_from_fragments(src_path, delimiter=None, compiled_regexp=None):
             continue
         fragment = "%s/%s" % (src_path, f)
         if delimit_me and delimiter:
+            # un-escape anything like newlines
+            delimiter = delimiter.decode('unicode-escape')
             tmp.write(delimiter)
             # always make sure there's a newline after the 
             # delimiter, so lines don't run together