diff --git a/docs/changelog.md b/docs/changelog.md
index 901974b..ba2eefe 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.md
+++ b/docs/changelog.md
@@ -4,6 +4,15 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [4.2.1.dev1](https://github.com/nhairs/python-json-logger/compare/v4.2.0...main) - unreleased
+
+### Fixed
+- `%` style formats no longer treat the escaped literal `%%` as the start of a field, so
+  `"%%(notafield)s"` is correctly read as literal text.
+- `{` style formats now use `string.Formatter` (as `logging.StrFormatStyle.validate` does) to find
+  fields, so escaped literal braces (`{{`/`}}`) are skipped and a conversion (`{message!r}`) or
+  format spec (`{levelname:>8}`) is no longer treated as part of the field name.
+
 ## [4.2.0](https://github.com/nhairs/python-json-logger/compare/v4.1.0...v4.2.0) - 2026-08-15
 
 ### Changed
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e35bd58..fe257b4 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "python-json-logger"
-version = "4.2.0"
+version = "4.2.1.dev1"
 description = "JSON Log Formatter for the Python Logging Package"
 authors = [
     {name = "Zakaria Zajac", email = "zak@madzak.com"},
diff --git a/src/pythonjsonlogger/core.py b/src/pythonjsonlogger/core.py
index 40282c2..6696017 100644
--- a/src/pythonjsonlogger/core.py
+++ b/src/pythonjsonlogger/core.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 import logging
 import re
+import string
 import sys
 from typing import TypeAlias, Any
 from collections.abc import Container, Sequence
@@ -65,7 +66,8 @@
     r"\$(?:\$|\{(?P<braced>.+?)\}|(?P<named>[_a-z][_a-z0-9]*))", re.IGNORECASE
 )  # $ style
 STYLE_STRING_FORMAT_REGEX = re.compile(r"\{(.+?)\}", re.IGNORECASE)  # { style
-STYLE_PERCENT_REGEX = re.compile(r"%\((.+?)\)", re.IGNORECASE)  # % style
+# Deprecated: no longer used by `parse`, which uses `string.Formatter` instead.
+STYLE_PERCENT_REGEX = re.compile(r"%(?:%|\((?P<named>.+?)\))", re.IGNORECASE)  # % style
 
 ## Type Aliases
 ## -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -311,12 +313,24 @@ def parse(self) -> list[str]:
             ]
 
         if isinstance(self._style, logging.StrFormatStyle):
-            return STYLE_STRING_FORMAT_REGEX.findall(self._fmt)
+            # str.format escapes literal braces as {{ and }}, and a replacement field may
+            # carry a conversion (!r) or a format spec (:>10) that is not part of its name.
+            # string.Formatter is what logging.StrFormatStyle.validate itself parses with.
+            return [
+                field_name
+                for _, field_name, _, _ in string.Formatter().parse(self._fmt)
+                if field_name
+            ]
 
         if isinstance(self._style, logging.PercentStyle):
             # PercentStyle is parent class of StringTemplateStyle and StrFormatStyle
             # so it must be checked last.
-            return STYLE_PERCENT_REGEX.findall(self._fmt)
+            # %% is an escaped literal percent, so %%(name)s is not a field.
+            return [
+                match.group("named")
+                for match in STYLE_PERCENT_REGEX.finditer(self._fmt)
+                if match.group("named")
+            ]
 
         raise ValueError(f"Style {self._style!r} is not supported")
 
diff --git a/tests/test_formatters.py b/tests/test_formatters.py
index bc234ec..6efc83c 100644
--- a/tests/test_formatters.py
+++ b/tests/test_formatters.py
@@ -183,6 +183,41 @@ def test_string_template_format(env: LoggingEnvironment, class_: type[BaseJsonFo
     return
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("class_", ALL_FORMATTERS)
+def test_percentage_format_escaped_percent(
+    env: LoggingEnvironment, class_: type[BaseJsonFormatter]
+):
+    # Note: %% is an escaped literal percent, so %%(notafield)s is not a field
+    env.set_formatter(class_("%(levelname)s %(message)s 100%% %%(notafield)s"))
+
+    msg = "testing logging format"
+    env.logger.info(msg)
+    log_json = env.load_json()
+
+    assert log_json["message"] == msg
+    assert log_json.keys() == {"levelname", "message"}
+    return
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("class_", ALL_FORMATTERS)
+def test_str_format_format(env: LoggingEnvironment, class_: type[BaseJsonFormatter]):
+    # Note: {{ }} is an escaped literal brace, and !r / :>{width} are not part of a field name
+    env.set_formatter(
+        class_(
+            "{{literal}} {levelname:>{width}} {message!r} {filename} {lineno} {asctime}",
+            style="{",
+        )
+    )
+
+    msg = "testing logging format"
+    env.logger.info(msg)
+    log_json = env.load_json()
+
+    assert log_json["message"] == msg
+    assert log_json.keys() == {"levelname", "message", "filename", "lineno", "asctime"}
+    return
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("class_", ALL_FORMATTERS)
 def test_comma_format(env: LoggingEnvironment, class_: type[BaseJsonFormatter]):
     # Note: we have double comma `,,` to test handling "empty" names