diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a907289..b05ead7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 # Changelog
 
-## Unreleased
+## Version 2.13.0
+
+* Support escaping placeholders with backslash e.g. `\${MY_ENV_VAR}` will no longer be expanded
+
+## Version 2.12.0
 
 * Converted README and CHANGELOG to Markdown
 * Add option to provide additional values files
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 24e08b8..4072fc6 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 	<groupId>com.deviceinsight.helm</groupId>
 	<artifactId>helm-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-	<version>2.12.0</version>
+	<version>2.13.0</version>
 	<packaging>maven-plugin</packaging>
 
 	<name>Helm Maven Plugin</name>
@@ -12,13 +12,13 @@
 	<url>https://github.com/deviceinsight/helm-maven-plugin</url>
 
 	<properties>
-		<kotlin.version>1.8.10</kotlin.version>
+		<kotlin.version>1.8.20</kotlin.version>
 		<kotlin.compiler.jvmTarget>1.8</kotlin.compiler.jvmTarget>
 		<maven.compiler.source>1.8</maven.compiler.source>
 		<maven.compiler.target>1.8</maven.compiler.target>
 		<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
 
-		<maven.version>3.6.2</maven.version>
+		<maven.version>3.8.1</maven.version>
 		<maven-project.version>2.2.1</maven-project.version>
 
 		<jackson-bom.version>2.14.2</jackson-bom.version>
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 		<junit.jupiter.version>5.9.2</junit.jupiter.version>
 		<assertj-core.version>3.24.2</assertj-core.version>
 
-		<dokka-maven-plugin.version>1.7.20</dokka-maven-plugin.version>
+		<dokka-maven-plugin.version>1.8.10</dokka-maven-plugin.version>
 		<maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.11.0</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
 		<maven-source-plugin.version>3.2.1</maven-source-plugin.version>
 		<gitflow-maven-plugin.version>1.19.0</gitflow-maven-plugin.version>
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/deviceinsight/helm/PackageMojo.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/deviceinsight/helm/PackageMojo.kt
index 8d63167..f38363c 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/deviceinsight/helm/PackageMojo.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/deviceinsight/helm/PackageMojo.kt
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ import java.io.IOException
 class PackageMojo : ResolveHelmMojo(), ServerAuthentication {
 
 	companion object {
-		private val PLACEHOLDER_REGEX = Regex("""\$\{(.*?)}""")
+		private val PLACEHOLDER_REGEX = Regex("""(\\?)\$\{(.*?)}""")
 		private val SUBSTITUTED_EXTENSIONS = setOf("json", "tpl", "yml", "yaml")
 	}
 
@@ -173,11 +173,17 @@ class PackageMojo : ResolveHelmMojo(), ServerAuthentication {
 				file.useLines { lines ->
 					lines.map { line ->
 						PLACEHOLDER_REGEX.replace(line) { matchResult ->
-							val property = matchResult.groupValues[1]
 
-							when (val propertyValue = findPropertyValue(property, targetFile.absolutePath)) {
-								null -> matchResult.groupValues[0]
-								else -> propertyValue
+							val isEscaped = matchResult.groupValues[1] == "\\"
+							val property = matchResult.groupValues[2]
+
+							if (isEscaped) {
+								matchResult.groupValues[0].substring(1)
+							} else {
+								when (val propertyValue = findPropertyValue(property, targetFile.absolutePath)) {
+									null -> matchResult.groupValues[0]
+									else -> propertyValue
+								}
 							}
 						}
 					}.forEach {