How to specify "?" for url-patterns as querystring and not "optional match"

[iambumblehead]

Please give advice or recommendation for handling the "?" character, where it is found in a querystring such as "/the/path?the=query#the-hash".

The context is this PR, where sources using older [email protected] were updated to use [email protected]. When using latest [email protected], the tests failed if path-to-regexp was called on a url with querystring,

TypeError: Unexpected ? at index 9, expected end:
  /the/path?the=query#the-hash;
  visit https://git.new/pathToRegexpError for info

The guide at https://git.new/pathToRegexpError gives this advice, "For optional (?), use braces: /file{.:ext}." so the "solution" at the PR was this,

pattern = pattern.replace(/\?/, '{.:optqspunct}');
// /the/path?the=query#the-hash
// -> /the/path{.:optqspunct}the=query#the-hash

The solution at the PR seems wrong, however, as the url is not using "?" to specify an "optional match" but it is just there as part of the url querystring.

Thank you for this library and thank you in advance for any advice.