diff --git a/rosidl_adapter/rosidl_adapter/msg/__init__.py b/rosidl_adapter/rosidl_adapter/msg/__init__.py
index b02b7b5bd..cff0b3306 100644
--- a/rosidl_adapter/rosidl_adapter/msg/__init__.py
+++ b/rosidl_adapter/rosidl_adapter/msg/__init__.py
@@ -61,7 +61,9 @@ def convert_msg_to_idl(package_dir, package_name, input_file, output_dir):
 
 def to_idl_literal(idl_type, value):
     if idl_type[-1] == ']' or idl_type.startswith('sequence<'):
-        content = repr(tuple(value)).replace('\\', r'\\').replace('"', r'\"')
+        content = repr(tuple(value)).replace('\\', r'\\')
+        content = content.encode().decode('unicode_escape')
+        content = content.replace('"', r'\"').replace("'", r"\'")
         return f'"{content}"'
 
     if 'boolean' == idl_type: