diff --git a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Csv.php b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Csv.php
index ac4fa688ab..762ec31910 100644
--- a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Csv.php
+++ b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Csv.php
@@ -62,8 +62,19 @@ class Csv extends BaseReader
 
     /**
      * The character that can escape the enclosure.
+     * This will probably become unsupported in Php 9.
+     * Not yet ready to mark deprecated in order to give users
+     * a migration path.
      */
-    private string $escapeCharacter = '\\';
+    private ?string $escapeCharacter = null;
+
+    /**
+     * The character that will be supplied to fgetcsv
+     * when escapeCharacter is null.
+     * It is anticipated that it will conditionally be set
+     * to null-string for Php9 and above.
+     */
+    private static string $defaultEscapeCharacter = '\\';
 
     /**
      * Callback for setting defaults in construction.
@@ -185,7 +196,7 @@ protected function inferSeparator(): void
             return;
         }
 
-        $inferenceEngine = new Delimiter($this->fileHandle, $this->escapeCharacter, $this->enclosure);
+        $inferenceEngine = new Delimiter($this->fileHandle, $this->escapeCharacter ?? self::$defaultEscapeCharacter, $this->enclosure);
 
         // If number of lines is 0, nothing to infer : fall back to the default
         if ($inferenceEngine->linesCounted() === 0) {
@@ -228,11 +239,11 @@ public function listWorksheetInfo(string $filename): array
         $delimiter = $this->delimiter ?? '';
 
         // Loop through each line of the file in turn
-        $rowData = fgetcsv($fileHandle, 0, $delimiter, $this->enclosure, $this->escapeCharacter);
+        $rowData = self::getCsv($fileHandle, 0, $delimiter, $this->enclosure, $this->escapeCharacter);
         while (is_array($rowData)) {
             ++$worksheetInfo[0]['totalRows'];
             $worksheetInfo[0]['lastColumnIndex'] = max($worksheetInfo[0]['lastColumnIndex'], count($rowData) - 1);
-            $rowData = fgetcsv($fileHandle, 0, $delimiter, $this->enclosure, $this->escapeCharacter);
+            $rowData = self::getCsv($fileHandle, 0, $delimiter, $this->enclosure, $this->escapeCharacter);
         }
 
         $worksheetInfo[0]['lastColumnLetter'] = Coordinate::stringFromColumnIndex($worksheetInfo[0]['lastColumnIndex'] + 1);
@@ -379,7 +390,7 @@ private function loadStringOrFile(string $filename, Spreadsheet $spreadsheet, bo
 
         // Loop through each line of the file in turn
         $delimiter = $this->delimiter ?? '';
-        $rowData = fgetcsv($fileHandle, 0, $delimiter, $this->enclosure, $this->escapeCharacter);
+        $rowData = self::getCsv($fileHandle, 0, $delimiter, $this->enclosure, $this->escapeCharacter);
         $valueBinder = Cell::getValueBinder();
         $preserveBooleanString = method_exists($valueBinder, 'getBooleanConversion') && $valueBinder->getBooleanConversion();
         $this->getTrue = Calculation::getTRUE();
@@ -416,7 +427,7 @@ private function loadStringOrFile(string $filename, Spreadsheet $spreadsheet, bo
                 }
                 ++$columnLetter;
             }
-            $rowData = fgetcsv($fileHandle, 0, $delimiter, $this->enclosure, $this->escapeCharacter);
+            $rowData = self::getCsv($fileHandle, 0, $delimiter, $this->enclosure, $this->escapeCharacter);
             ++$currentRow;
         }
 
@@ -527,6 +538,11 @@ public function getContiguous(): bool
         return $this->contiguous;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Php9 intends to drop support for this parameter in fgetcsv.
+     * Not yet ready to mark deprecated in order to give users
+     * a migration path.
+     */
     public function setEscapeCharacter(string $escapeCharacter): self
     {
         $this->escapeCharacter = $escapeCharacter;
@@ -536,7 +552,7 @@ public function setEscapeCharacter(string $escapeCharacter): self
 
     public function getEscapeCharacter(): string
     {
-        return $this->escapeCharacter;
+        return $this->escapeCharacter ?? self::$defaultEscapeCharacter;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -649,4 +665,28 @@ public function setSheetNameIsFileName(bool $sheetNameIsFileName): self
 
         return $this;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Php8.4 deprecates use of anything other than null string
+     * as escape Character.
+     *
+     * @param resource $stream
+     * @param null|int<0, max> $length
+     *
+     * @return array<int,?string>|false
+     */
+    private static function getCsv(
+        $stream,
+        ?int $length = null,
+        string $separator = ',',
+        string $enclosure = '"',
+        ?string $escape = null
+    ): array|false {
+        $escape = $escape ?? self::$defaultEscapeCharacter;
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 80400 && $escape !== '') {
+            return @fgetcsv($stream, $length, $separator, $enclosure, $escape);
+        }
+
+        return fgetcsv($stream, $length, $separator, $enclosure, $escape);
+    }
 }