Using a semicolon in a string with "rewriteBatchedStatements=true" fails

I can reproduce the error I am submitting here with this code block:

    public static void main(String[] args) throws SQLException {

        MariaDB db = new MariaDB();

        Connection conn = db.getConnection();

        PreparedStatement sqlInsert = conn.prepareStatement("insert into prep (text) values (?)");

        sqlInsert.setString(1, "aa");

        sqlInsert.addBatch();

        sqlInsert.setString(1, "b;b");

        sqlInsert.addBatch();

        sqlInsert.executeBatch();

        conn.commit();

    }

The connection uses "rewriteBatchedStatements=true"
As soon as I use a semicolon in the string, I get an "String index out of range: -1"

1. if I switch back to connector 1.1.7, I get no error
2. if I set rewriteBatchedStatements to false, I get no error
3. the MariaDB query.log is empty, i.e. the statement does not reach the database. Which is to be expected since the error is an java.lang.StringIndexOutOfBoundsException
4. Tested on MariaDB 10.0.15, connector 1.1.8

If you need any more infos, let me know.