diff --git a/pkg/executor/resolve.go b/pkg/executor/resolve.go
index e2d004f..b5284c0 100644
--- a/pkg/executor/resolve.go
+++ b/pkg/executor/resolve.go
@@ -172,62 +172,7 @@ func ReplaceVar(cmd, varName, replacement string, syntax string) string {
 	return re.ReplaceAllLiteralString(cmd, replacement)
 }
 
-// FindAllVars finds ALL variable references in a command, ignoring quoting.
+// FindAllVars finds variable references using the parser's syntax and escaping rules.
 func FindAllVars(cmd string, syntax string) []string {
-	allowDollar := syntax == "dollar" || syntax == "both"
-	allowAngle := syntax == "angle" || syntax == "both"
-
-	var vars []string
-	seen := make(map[string]bool)
-	add := func(name string) {
-		if seen[name] {
-			return
-		}
-		seen[name] = true
-		vars = append(vars, name)
-	}
-
-	for i := 0; i < len(cmd); i++ {
-		switch cmd[i] {
-		case '$':
-			i = scanDollarVar(cmd, i, allowDollar, add)
-		case '<':
-			i = scanAngleVar(cmd, i, allowAngle, add)
-		}
-	}
-
-	return vars
-}
-
-func scanDollarVar(cmd string, i int, allowDollar bool, add func(string)) int {
-	if !allowDollar || i+1 >= len(cmd) || (i > 0 && cmd[i-1] == '\\') {
-		return i
-	}
-	j := i + 1
-	for j < len(cmd) && parser.IsVarChar(cmd[j], j == i+1) {
-		j++
-	}
-	if j > i+1 {
-		add(cmd[i+1 : j])
-	}
-	return j - 1
-}
-
-func scanAngleVar(cmd string, i int, allowAngle bool, add func(string)) int {
-	if !allowAngle {
-		return i
-	}
-	j := i + 1
-	if j >= len(cmd) || !parser.IsVarChar(cmd[j], true) {
-		return i
-	}
-	j++
-	for j < len(cmd) && parser.IsVarChar(cmd[j], false) {
-		j++
-	}
-	if j >= len(cmd) || cmd[j] != '>' {
-		return i
-	}
-	add(cmd[i+1 : j])
-	return j
+	return parser.ExtractVars(cmd, syntax == "" || syntax == "dollar" || syntax == "both", syntax == "angle" || syntax == "both")
 }
diff --git a/pkg/executor/var_discovery_test.go b/pkg/executor/var_discovery_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa82f5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/executor/var_discovery_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package executor
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestFindAllVarsEscapesAndDefaultSyntax(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name, command, syntax string
+		want                  []string
+	}{
+		{"default", "echo $value", "", []string{"value"}},
+		{"odd backslash", `echo \$literal $value`, "dollar", []string{"value"}},
+		{"even backslashes", `echo \\$value`, "dollar", []string{"value"}},
+		{"three backslashes", `echo \\\$literal $value`, "dollar", []string{"value"}},
+		{"shell braces", "echo ${HOME} $value", "dollar", []string{"value"}},
+		{"ordered unique names", "echo $first <second> $first", "both", []string{"first", "second"}},
+		{"angle only", "echo $first <second>", "angle", []string{"second"}},
+		{"malformed angle", "echo <broken $value", "both", []string{"value"}},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := FindAllVars(tc.command, tc.syntax); !reflect.DeepEqual(got, tc.want) {
+				t.Fatalf("FindAllVars() = %v, want %v", got, tc.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/parser/compose.go b/pkg/parser/compose.go
index b47d1e4..06cd703 100644
--- a/pkg/parser/compose.go
+++ b/pkg/parser/compose.go
@@ -1,10 +1,42 @@
 package parser
 
-import (
-	"regexp"
-)
-
-var combinedRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`\$([a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*)|<([a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*)>`)
+// WalkVars visits complete variable references in source order. Offsets are byte
+// offsets into command. Dollar references escaped by an odd number of preceding
+// backslashes and shell ${...} forms are left to the shell.
+func WalkVars(command string, allowDollar, allowAngle bool, visit func(start, end int, name string)) {
+	backslashes := 0
+	for i := 0; i < len(command); i++ {
+		if command[i] == '\\' {
+			backslashes++
+			continue
+		}
+		escaped := backslashes%2 != 0
+		backslashes = 0
+		dollar := command[i] == '$' && allowDollar && !escaped
+		angle := command[i] == '<' && allowAngle
+		if !dollar && !angle {
+			continue
+		}
+		start := i
+		j := i + 1
+		if j >= len(command) || !IsVarChar(command[j], true) {
+			continue
+		}
+		j++
+		for j < len(command) && IsVarChar(command[j], false) {
+			j++
+		}
+		name := command[i+1 : j]
+		if angle {
+			if j >= len(command) || command[j] != '>' {
+				continue
+			}
+			j++
+		}
+		visit(start, j, name)
+		i = j - 1
+	}
+}
 
 // ExtractVars finds all variables in a command string. It respects the provided
 // flags for dollar ($var) and angle bracket (<var>) syntaxes. It returns a
@@ -14,20 +46,12 @@ func ExtractVars(command string, allowDollar, allowAngle bool) []string {
 	varMap := make(map[string]bool)
 	var vars []string
 
-	matches := combinedRegex.FindAllStringSubmatch(command, -1)
-	for _, match := range matches {
-		var name string
-		if match[1] != "" && allowDollar {
-			name = match[1]
-		} else if match[2] != "" && allowAngle {
-			name = match[2]
-		}
-
-		if name != "" && !varMap[name] {
+	WalkVars(command, allowDollar, allowAngle, func(_, _ int, name string) {
+		if !varMap[name] {
 			varMap[name] = true
 			vars = append(vars, name)
 		}
-	}
+	})
 
 	return vars
 }
diff --git a/pkg/parser/compose_test.go b/pkg/parser/compose_test.go
index acd2be6..7aa425b 100644
--- a/pkg/parser/compose_test.go
+++ b/pkg/parser/compose_test.go
@@ -37,9 +37,9 @@ func TestExtractVars(t *testing.T) {
 			want:    nil,
 		},
 		{
-			name:    "escaped variables", // the parser currently extracts it anyway, which is fine for compose
+			name:    "escaped variables",
 			command: "echo \\$var",
-			want:    []string{"var"},
+			want:    nil,
 		},
 	}