diff -up ksh-20120801/src/cmd/ksh93/edit/emacs.c.tabfix ksh-20120801/src/cmd/ksh93/edit/emacs.c
--- ksh-20120801/src/cmd/ksh93/edit/emacs.c.tabfix	2012-07-17 22:44:44.000000000 +0200
+++ ksh-20120801/src/cmd/ksh93/edit/emacs.c	2013-03-07 15:58:59.902161711 +0100
@@ -1011,10 +1011,13 @@ static int escape(register Emacs_t* ep,r
 					ep->ed->e_tabcount=0;
 				else
 				{
+					int oldi = i;
 					i=ed_getchar(ep->ed,0);
 					ed_ungetchar(ep->ed,i);
-					if(isdigit(i))
+					if(isdigit(i) && oldi=='=')
 						ed_ungetchar(ep->ed,ESC);
+					else if (isdigit(i) || i=='\t')
+						ep->ed->e_tabcount=0;
 				}
 			}
 			else