diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/dsl/package.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/dsl/package.scala
index b4a8bafe22dfb..40998080bc4e3 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/dsl/package.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/dsl/package.scala
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ package object dsl {
     }
 
     def like(other: Expression, escapeChar: Char = '\\'): Expression =
-      Like(expr, other, escapeChar)
+      Like(expr, other, Literal(escapeChar.toString))
     def rlike(other: Expression): Expression = RLike(expr, other)
     def contains(other: Expression): Expression = Contains(expr, other)
     def startsWith(other: Expression): Expression = StartsWith(expr, other)
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/regexpExpressions.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/regexpExpressions.scala
index 2354087768615..c9ddc70bf5bc6 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/regexpExpressions.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/regexpExpressions.scala
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import java.util.regex.{MatchResult, Pattern}
 
 import org.apache.commons.text.StringEscapeUtils
 
+import org.apache.spark.sql.AnalysisException
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.codegen._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.codegen.Block._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.{GenericArrayData, StringUtils}
@@ -29,18 +30,20 @@ import org.apache.spark.sql.types._
 import org.apache.spark.unsafe.types.UTF8String
 
 
-abstract class StringRegexExpression extends BinaryExpression
+trait StringRegexExpression extends Expression
   with ImplicitCastInputTypes with NullIntolerant {
 
+  def str: Expression
+  def pattern: Expression
+
   def escape(v: String): String
   def matches(regex: Pattern, str: String): Boolean
 
   override def dataType: DataType = BooleanType
-  override def inputTypes: Seq[DataType] = Seq(StringType, StringType)
 
   // try cache the pattern for Literal
-  private lazy val cache: Pattern = right match {
-    case x @ Literal(value: String, StringType) => compile(value)
+  private lazy val cache: Pattern = pattern match {
+    case Literal(value: String, StringType) => compile(value)
     case _ => null
   }
 
@@ -51,10 +54,9 @@ abstract class StringRegexExpression extends BinaryExpression
     Pattern.compile(escape(str))
   }
 
-  protected def pattern(str: String) = if (cache == null) compile(str) else cache
-
-  protected override def nullSafeEval(input1: Any, input2: Any): Any = {
-    val regex = pattern(input2.asInstanceOf[UTF8String].toString)
+  def nullSafeMatch(input1: Any, input2: Any): Any = {
+    val s = input2.asInstanceOf[UTF8String].toString
+    val regex = if (cache == null) compile(s) else cache
     if(regex == null) {
       null
     } else {
@@ -62,7 +64,7 @@ abstract class StringRegexExpression extends BinaryExpression
     }
   }
 
-  override def sql: String = s"${left.sql} ${prettyName.toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT)} ${right.sql}"
+  override def sql: String = s"${str.sql} ${prettyName.toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT)} ${pattern.sql}"
 }
 
 // scalastyle:off line.contains.tab
@@ -107,46 +109,65 @@ abstract class StringRegexExpression extends BinaryExpression
       true
       > SELECT '%SystemDrive%/Users/John' _FUNC_ '/%SystemDrive/%//Users%' ESCAPE '/';
       true
+      > SELECT _FUNC_('_Apache Spark_', '__%Spark__', '_');
+      true
   """,
   note = """
     Use RLIKE to match with standard regular expressions.
   """,
   since = "1.0.0")
 // scalastyle:on line.contains.tab
-case class Like(left: Expression, right: Expression, escapeChar: Char)
-  extends StringRegexExpression {
+case class Like(str: Expression, pattern: Expression, escape: Expression)
+  extends TernaryExpression with StringRegexExpression {
 
-  def this(left: Expression, right: Expression) = this(left, right, '\\')
+  def this(str: Expression, pattern: Expression) = this(str, pattern, Literal("\\"))
+
+  override def inputTypes: Seq[DataType] = Seq(StringType, StringType, StringType)
+  override def children: Seq[Expression] = Seq(str, pattern, escape)
+
+  private lazy val escapeChar: Char = if (escape.foldable) {
+    escape.eval() match {
+      case s: UTF8String if s != null && s.numChars() == 1 => s.toString.charAt(0)
+      case s => throw new AnalysisException(
+        s"The 'escape' parameter must be a string literal of one char but it is $s.")
+    }
+  } else {
+    throw new AnalysisException("The 'escape' parameter must be a string literal.")
+  }
 
   override def escape(v: String): String = StringUtils.escapeLikeRegex(v, escapeChar)
 
   override def matches(regex: Pattern, str: String): Boolean = regex.matcher(str).matches()
 
   override def toString: String = escapeChar match {
-    case '\\' => s"$left LIKE $right"
-    case c => s"$left LIKE $right ESCAPE '$c'"
+    case '\\' => s"$str LIKE $pattern"
+    case c => s"$str LIKE $pattern ESCAPE '$c'"
+  }
+
+  protected override def nullSafeEval(input1: Any, input2: Any, input3: Any): Any = {
+    nullSafeMatch(input1, input2)
   }
 
   override protected def doGenCode(ctx: CodegenContext, ev: ExprCode): ExprCode = {
     val patternClass = classOf[Pattern].getName
     val escapeFunc = StringUtils.getClass.getName.stripSuffix("$") + ".escapeLikeRegex"
 
-    if (right.foldable) {
-      val rVal = right.eval()
-      if (rVal != null) {
+    if (pattern.foldable) {
+      val patternVal = pattern.eval()
+      if (patternVal != null) {
         val regexStr =
-          StringEscapeUtils.escapeJava(escape(rVal.asInstanceOf[UTF8String].toString()))
-        val pattern = ctx.addMutableState(patternClass, "patternLike",
+          StringEscapeUtils.escapeJava(escape(patternVal.asInstanceOf[UTF8String].toString()))
+        val compiledPattern = ctx.addMutableState(patternClass, "compiledPattern",
           v => s"""$v = $patternClass.compile("$regexStr");""")
 
         // We don't use nullSafeCodeGen here because we don't want to re-evaluate right again.
-        val eval = left.genCode(ctx)
+        val eval = str.genCode(ctx)
         ev.copy(code = code"""
           ${eval.code}
           boolean ${ev.isNull} = ${eval.isNull};
           ${CodeGenerator.javaType(dataType)} ${ev.value} = ${CodeGenerator.defaultValue(dataType)};
           if (!${ev.isNull}) {
-            ${ev.value} = $pattern.matcher(${eval.value}.toString()).matches();
+            ${ev.value} = $compiledPattern.matcher(${eval.value}.toString()).matches();
           }
         """)
       } else {
@@ -164,18 +185,18 @@ case class Like(left: Expression, right: Expression, escapeChar: Char)
       } else {
         escapeChar
       }
-      val rightStr = ctx.freshName("rightStr")
-      val pattern = ctx.addMutableState(patternClass, "pattern")
-      val lastRightStr = ctx.addMutableState(classOf[String].getName, "lastRightStr")
+      val patternStr = ctx.freshName("patternStr")
+      val compiledPattern = ctx.addMutableState(patternClass, "compiledPattern")
+      val lastPatternStr = ctx.addMutableState(classOf[String].getName, "lastPatternStr")
 
-      nullSafeCodeGen(ctx, ev, (eval1, eval2) => {
+      nullSafeCodeGen(ctx, ev, (eval1, eval2, _) => {
         s"""
-          String $rightStr = $eval2.toString();
-          if (!$rightStr.equals($lastRightStr)) {
-            $pattern = $patternClass.compile($escapeFunc($rightStr, '$newEscapeChar'));
-            $lastRightStr = $rightStr;
+          String $patternStr = $eval2.toString();
+          if (!$patternStr.equals($lastPatternStr)) {
+            $compiledPattern = $patternClass.compile($escapeFunc($patternStr, '$newEscapeChar'));
+            $lastPatternStr = $patternStr;
           }
-          ${ev.value} = $pattern.matcher($eval1.toString()).matches();
+          ${ev.value} = $compiledPattern.matcher($eval1.toString()).matches();
         """
       })
     }
@@ -214,12 +235,20 @@ case class Like(left: Expression, right: Expression, escapeChar: Char)
   """,
   since = "1.0.0")
 // scalastyle:on line.contains.tab
-case class RLike(left: Expression, right: Expression) extends StringRegexExpression {
+case class RLike(left: Expression, right: Expression)
+  extends BinaryExpression with StringRegexExpression {
+
+  override def inputTypes: Seq[DataType] = Seq(StringType, StringType)
+
+  override def str: Expression = left
+  override def pattern: Expression = right
 
   override def escape(v: String): String = v
   override def matches(regex: Pattern, str: String): Boolean = regex.matcher(str).find(0)
   override def toString: String = s"$left RLIKE $right"
 
+  protected override def nullSafeEval(input1: Any, input2: Any): Any = nullSafeMatch(input1, input2)
+
   override protected def doGenCode(ctx: CodegenContext, ev: ExprCode): ExprCode = {
     val patternClass = classOf[Pattern].getName
 
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/parser/AstBuilder.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/parser/AstBuilder.scala
index e1dca4e945397..967eca77145e2 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/parser/AstBuilder.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/parser/AstBuilder.scala
@@ -1392,9 +1392,9 @@ class AstBuilder(conf: SQLConf) extends SqlBaseBaseVisitor[AnyRef] with Logging
             throw new ParseException("Invalid escape string." +
               "Escape string must contains only one character.", ctx)
           }
-          str.charAt(0)
+          str
         }.getOrElse('\\')
-        invertIfNotDefined(Like(e, expression(ctx.pattern), escapeChar))
+        invertIfNotDefined(Like(e, expression(ctx.pattern), Literal(escapeChar)))
       case SqlBaseParser.RLIKE =>
         invertIfNotDefined(RLike(e, expression(ctx.pattern)))
       case SqlBaseParser.NULL if ctx.NOT != null =>
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameFunctionsSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameFunctionsSuite.scala
index 584768eff700b..7fce03658fc16 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameFunctionsSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameFunctionsSuite.scala
@@ -3562,6 +3562,21 @@ class DataFrameFunctionsSuite extends QueryTest with SharedSparkSession {
     checkAnswer(df.select("x").filter("exists(i, x -> x % d == 0)"),
       Seq(Row(1)))
   }
+
+  test("the like function with the escape parameter") {
+    val df = Seq(("abc", "a_c", "!")).toDF("str", "pattern", "escape")
+    checkAnswer(df.selectExpr("like(str, pattern, '@')"), Row(true))
+
+    val longEscapeError = intercept[AnalysisException] {
+      df.selectExpr("like(str, pattern, '@%')").collect()
+    }.getMessage
+    assert(longEscapeError.contains("The 'escape' parameter must be a string literal of one char"))
+
+    val nonFoldableError = intercept[AnalysisException] {
+      df.selectExpr("like(str, pattern, escape)").collect()
+    }.getMessage
+    assert(nonFoldableError.contains("The 'escape' parameter must be a string literal"))
+  }
 }
 
 object DataFrameFunctionsSuite {