diff --git a/src/php-8.1-strftime.php b/src/php-8.1-strftime.php
index 14e8038..3f5cea4 100644
--- a/src/php-8.1-strftime.php
+++ b/src/php-8.1-strftime.php
@@ -179,7 +179,12 @@ function strftime (string $format, $timestamp = null, ?string $locale = null) :
       '%x' => $intl_formatter,
     ];
 
-    $out = preg_replace_callback('/(?<!%)%([_#-]?)([a-zA-Z])/', function ($match) use ($translation_table, $timestamp) {
+    // %% is matched as its own token, so that "%%%Y" becomes "%" followed by the year
+    $out = preg_replace_callback('/%%|%([_#-]?)([a-zA-Z])/', function ($match) use ($translation_table, $timestamp) {
+      if ($match[0] == '%%') {
+        return '%';
+      }
+
       $prefix = $match[1];
       $char = $match[2];
       $pattern = '%'.$char;
@@ -214,6 +219,5 @@ function strftime (string $format, $timestamp = null, ?string $locale = null) :
       return $result;
     }, $format);
 
-    $out = str_replace('%%', '%', $out);
     return $out;
   }
diff --git a/tests/strftimeTest.php b/tests/strftimeTest.php
index 2540afc..408436a 100644
--- a/tests/strftimeTest.php
+++ b/tests/strftimeTest.php
@@ -182,6 +182,12 @@ public function testMiscellaneousFormats () {
 
       $result = strftime('%%', '20220306 13:02:03');
       $this->assertEquals('%', $result, '%%: A literal percentage character ("%")');
+
+      $result = strftime('%%Y', '20220306 13:02:03');
+      $this->assertEquals('%Y', $result, '%%Y: A literal percentage character followed by "Y"');
+
+      $result = strftime('%%%Y', '20220306 13:02:03');
+      $this->assertEquals('%2022', $result, '%%%Y: A literal percentage character followed by the year');
     }
 
     /**