diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/parser/common.py b/pandas/tests/io/parser/common.py
index 584a6561b505b..4d1f9936af983 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/parser/common.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/parser/common.py
@@ -1677,6 +1677,16 @@ def test_internal_eof_byte_to_file(self):
             result = self.read_csv(path)
             tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
+    def test_sub_character(self):
+        # see gh-16893
+        dirpath = tm.get_data_path()
+        filename = os.path.join(dirpath, "sub_char.csv")
+
+        expected = DataFrame([[1, 2, 3]], columns=["a", "\x1ab", "c"])
+        result = self.read_csv(filename)
+
+        tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
+
     def test_file_handles(self):
         # GH 14418 - don't close user provided file handles
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/parser/data/sub_char.csv b/pandas/tests/io/parser/data/sub_char.csv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..ff1fa777832c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/parser/data/sub_char.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+a,"b",c
+1,2,3
\ No newline at end of file