diff --git a/frontends/blif/blifparse.cc b/frontends/blif/blifparse.cc
index bfcfad78a..cab210605 100644
--- a/frontends/blif/blifparse.cc
+++ b/frontends/blif/blifparse.cc
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ void parse_blif(RTLIL::Design *design, std::istream &f, IdString dff_name, bool
 					goto error_with_reason;
 				}
 
-				module->rename(lastcell, p);
+				module->rename(lastcell, RTLIL::escape_id(p));
 				continue;
 			}