diff --git a/cpp/include/cudf/strings/replace_re.hpp b/cpp/include/cudf/strings/replace_re.hpp
index 28ab19e53d9..087d1a94603 100644
--- a/cpp/include/cudf/strings/replace_re.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/cudf/strings/replace_re.hpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2019, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+ * Copyright (c) 2019-2021, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -72,22 +72,24 @@ std::unique_ptr<column> replace_re(
 
 /**
  * @brief For each string, replaces any character sequence matching the given pattern
- * using the repl template for back-references.
+ * using the replacement template for back-references.
  *
  * Any null string entries return corresponding null output column entries.
  *
  * See the @ref md_regex "Regex Features" page for details on patterns supported by this API.
  *
+ * @throw cudf::logic_error if capture index values in `replacement` are not in range 1-99
+ *
  * @param strings Strings instance for this operation.
  * @param pattern The regular expression patterns to search within each string.
- * @param repl The replacement template for creating the output string.
+ * @param replacement The replacement template for creating the output string.
  * @param mr Device memory resource used to allocate the returned column's device memory.
  * @return New strings column.
  */
 std::unique_ptr<column> replace_with_backrefs(
   strings_column_view const& strings,
   std::string const& pattern,
-  std::string const& repl,
+  std::string const& replacement,
   rmm::mr::device_memory_resource* mr = rmm::mr::get_current_device_resource());
 
 }  // namespace strings
diff --git a/cpp/src/strings/replace/backref_re.cu b/cpp/src/strings/replace/backref_re.cu
index 462efedffe5..5f7b195e8f9 100644
--- a/cpp/src/strings/replace/backref_re.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/strings/replace/backref_re.cu
@@ -37,39 +37,57 @@ namespace strings {
 namespace detail {
 namespace {
 
+/**
+ * @brief Return the capturing group index pattern to use with the given replacement string.
+ *
+ * Only two patterns are supported at this time `\d` and `${d}` where `d` is an integer in
+ * the range 1-99. The `\d` pattern is returned by default unless no `\d` pattern is found in
+ * the `repl` string,
+ *
+ * Reference: https://www.regular-expressions.info/refreplacebackref.html
+ */
+std::string get_backref_pattern(std::string const& repl)
+{
+  std::string const backslash_pattern = "\\\\(\\d+)";
+  std::string const bracket_pattern   = "\\$\\{(\\d+)\\}";
+  std::smatch m;
+  return std::regex_search(repl, m, std::regex(backslash_pattern)) ? backslash_pattern
+                                                                   : bracket_pattern;
+}
 /**
  * @brief Parse the back-ref index and position values from a given replace format.
  *
- * The backref numbers are expected to be 1-based.
+ * The back-ref numbers are expected to be 1-based.
+ *
+ * Returns a modified string without back-ref indicators and a vector of back-ref
+ * byte position pairs. These are used by the device code to build the output
+ * string by placing the captured group elements into the replace format.
  *
- * Returns a modified string without back-ref indicators and a vector of backref
- * byte position pairs.
- * ```
- * Example:
- *    for input string:    'hello \2 and \1'
- *    the returned pairs:  (2,6),(1,11)
- *    returned string is:  'hello  and '
- * ```
+ * For example, for input string 'hello \2 and \1' the returned `backref_type` vector
+ * contains `[(2,6),(1,11)]` and the returned string is 'hello  and '.
  */
 std::pair<std::string, std::vector<backref_type>> parse_backrefs(std::string const& repl)
 {
   std::vector<backref_type> backrefs;
   std::string str = repl;  // make a modifiable copy
   std::smatch m;
-  std::regex ex("(\\\\\\d+)");  // this searches for backslash-number(s); example "\1"
-  std::string rtn;              // result without refs
+  std::regex ex(get_backref_pattern(repl));
+  std::string rtn;
   size_type byte_offset = 0;
-  while (std::regex_search(str, m, ex)) {
-    if (m.size() == 0) break;
-    std::string const backref = m[0];
-    size_type const position  = static_cast<size_type>(m.position(0));
-    size_type const length    = static_cast<size_type>(backref.length());
+  while (std::regex_search(str, m, ex) && !m.empty()) {
+    // parse the back-ref index number
+    size_type const index = static_cast<size_type>(std::atoi(std::string{m[1]}.c_str()));
+    CUDF_EXPECTS(index > 0 && index < 100, "Group index numbers must be in the range 1-99");
+
+    // store the new byte offset and index value
+    size_type const position = static_cast<size_type>(m.position(0));
     byte_offset += position;
-    size_type const index = std::atoi(backref.c_str() + 1);  // back-ref index number
-    CUDF_EXPECTS(index > 0, "Back-reference numbers must be greater than 0");
-    rtn += str.substr(0, position);
-    str = str.substr(position + length);
     backrefs.push_back({index, byte_offset});
+
+    // update the output string
+    rtn += str.substr(0, position);
+    // remove the back-ref pattern to continue parsing
+    str = str.substr(position + static_cast<size_type>(m.length(0)));
   }
   if (!str.empty())  // add the remainder
     rtn += str;      // of the string
@@ -96,7 +114,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<column> replace_with_backrefs(
   auto d_prog = reprog_device::create(pattern, get_character_flags_table(), strings.size(), stream);
   auto const regex_insts = d_prog->insts_counts();
 
-  // parse the repl string for backref indicators
+  // parse the repl string for back-ref indicators
   auto const parse_result = parse_backrefs(repl);
   rmm::device_uvector<backref_type> backrefs(parse_result.second.size(), stream);
   CUDA_TRY(cudaMemcpyAsync(backrefs.data(),
diff --git a/cpp/tests/strings/replace_regex_tests.cpp b/cpp/tests/strings/replace_regex_tests.cpp
index a2486d60051..1f01f0f1429 100644
--- a/cpp/tests/strings/replace_regex_tests.cpp
+++ b/cpp/tests/strings/replace_regex_tests.cpp
@@ -167,6 +167,20 @@ TEST_F(StringsReplaceTests, ReplaceBackrefsRegexTest)
   CUDF_TEST_EXPECT_COLUMNS_EQUAL(*results, expected);
 }
 
+TEST_F(StringsReplaceTests, ReplaceBackrefsRegexAltIndexPatternTest)
+{
+  cudf::test::strings_column_wrapper strings({"12-3 34-5 67-89", "0-99: 777-888:: 5673-0"});
+  auto strings_view = cudf::strings_column_view(strings);
+
+  std::string pattern       = "(\\d+)-(\\d+)";
+  std::string repl_template = "${2} X ${1}0";
+  auto results = cudf::strings::replace_with_backrefs(strings_view, pattern, repl_template);
+
+  cudf::test::strings_column_wrapper expected(
+    {"3 X 120 5 X 340 89 X 670", "99 X 00: 888 X 7770:: 0 X 56730"});
+  CUDF_TEST_EXPECT_COLUMNS_EQUAL(*results, expected);
+}
+
 TEST_F(StringsReplaceTests, ReplaceBackrefsRegexReversedTest)
 {
   cudf::test::strings_column_wrapper strings(
@@ -203,6 +217,17 @@ TEST_F(StringsReplaceTests, BackrefWithGreedyQuantifier)
   CUDF_TEST_EXPECT_COLUMNS_EQUAL(*results, expected);
 }
 
+TEST_F(StringsReplaceTests, ReplaceBackrefsRegexErrorTest)
+{
+  cudf::test::strings_column_wrapper strings({"this string left intentionally blank"});
+  auto view = cudf::strings_column_view(strings);
+
+  EXPECT_THROW(cudf::strings::replace_with_backrefs(view, "(\\w)", "\\0"), cudf::logic_error);
+  EXPECT_THROW(cudf::strings::replace_with_backrefs(view, "(\\w)", "\\123"), cudf::logic_error);
+  EXPECT_THROW(cudf::strings::replace_with_backrefs(view, "", "\\1"), cudf::logic_error);
+  EXPECT_THROW(cudf::strings::replace_with_backrefs(view, "(\\w)", ""), cudf::logic_error);
+}
+
 TEST_F(StringsReplaceTests, MediumReplaceRegex)
 {
   // This results in 95 regex instructions and falls in the 'medium' range.