diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index ac78f48..d58deaa 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -8,11 +8,12 @@ module.exports = function resolveNestedSelector(selector, node) {
 	var parentSelectors = (parentIsNestAtRule)
 		? split(parent.params, ',', false).map((x) => x.trim())
 		: parent.selectors;
+	var selectorParts = split(selector, '&', true);
 
 	var resolvedSelectors = parentSelectors.reduce(function(result, parentSelector) {
-		if (selector.indexOf('&') !== -1) {
+		if (selectorParts.length > 1) {
 			var newlyResolvedSelectors = resolveNestedSelector(parentSelector, parent).map(function(resolvedParentSelector) {
-				return split(selector, '&', true).join(resolvedParentSelector);
+				return selectorParts.join(resolvedParentSelector);
 			});
 			return result.concat(newlyResolvedSelectors);
 		}
diff --git a/test/api.test.mjs b/test/api.test.mjs
index 2a45b89..74c3f54 100644
--- a/test/api.test.mjs
+++ b/test/api.test.mjs
@@ -2,6 +2,16 @@ import test from 'node:test';
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
 import util from './util.mjs';
 
+for (const selector of ['[data-label="&"]', String.raw`.\&`, ':is([data-label="&"])']) {
+	test(`preserves ancestor selectors when ${selector} has only literal ampersands`, async () => {
+		const code = `.outer { .parent { ${selector} { color: red } } }`;
+		assert.deepEqual(
+			await util.resolveChosenSelector(code, selector),
+			[`.outer .parent ${selector}`],
+		);
+	});
+}
+
 test(async t => {
 	const code = `a { b { top: 0; c { d {}}}}`;
 	assert.deepEqual(