diff --git a/lib/chkname.c b/lib/chkname.c
index 6abd34fffa..0abee4d294 100644
--- a/lib/chkname.c
+++ b/lib/chkname.c
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@
  *   true  - OK
  *   false - bad name
  * errors:
- *   EINVAL	Invalid name characters or sequences
+ *   EINVAL	Invalid name
+ *   EILSEQ	Invalid name character sequence (acceptable with --badname)
  *   EOVERFLOW	Name longer than maximum size
  */
 
@@ -27,12 +28,15 @@
 #include <limits.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stddef.h>
+#include <string.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 #include "defines.h"
 #include "chkname.h"
+#include "string/ctype/strchrisascii/strchriscntrl.h"
 #include "string/ctype/strisascii/strisdigit.h"
 #include "string/strcmp/streq.h"
+#include "string/strcmp/strcaseeq.h"
 
 
 #ifndef  LOGIN_NAME_MAX
@@ -59,6 +63,18 @@ login_name_max_size(void)
 static bool
 is_valid_name(const char *name)
 {
+	if (streq(name, "")
+	 || streq(name, ".")
+	 || streq(name, "..")
+	 || strspn(name, "-")
+	 || strpbrk(name, " \"#',/:;")
+	 || strchriscntrl(name)
+	 || strisdigit(name))
+	{
+		errno = EINVAL;
+		return false;
+	}
+
 	if (allow_bad_names) {
 		return true;
 	}
@@ -69,25 +85,15 @@ is_valid_name(const char *name)
 	 *
 	 * as a non-POSIX, extension, allow "$" as the last char for
 	 * sake of Samba 3.x "add machine script"
-	 *
-	 * Also do not allow fully numeric names or just "." or "..".
 	 */
 
-	if (strisdigit(name)) {
-		errno = EINVAL;
-		return false;
-	}
-
-	if (streq(name, "") ||
-	    streq(name, ".") ||
-	    streq(name, "..") ||
-	    !((*name >= 'a' && *name <= 'z') ||
+	if (!((*name >= 'a' && *name <= 'z') ||
 	      (*name >= 'A' && *name <= 'Z') ||
 	      (*name >= '0' && *name <= '9') ||
 	      *name == '_' ||
 	      *name == '.'))
 	{
-		errno = EINVAL;
+		errno = EILSEQ;
 		return false;
 	}
 
@@ -101,7 +107,7 @@ is_valid_name(const char *name)
 		      streq(name, "$")
 		     ))
 		{
-			errno = EINVAL;
+			errno = EILSEQ;
 			return false;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/src/newusers.c b/src/newusers.c
index 8af65b7a2b..e9353fdc0a 100644
--- a/src/newusers.c
+++ b/src/newusers.c
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ static int add_user (const char *name, uid_t uid, gid_t gid)
 
 	/* Check if this is a valid user name */
 	if (!is_valid_user_name(name)) {
-		if (errno == EINVAL) {
+		if (errno == EILSEQ) {
 			fprintf(stderr,
 			        _("%s: invalid user name '%s': use --badname to ignore\n"),
 			        Prog, name);
diff --git a/src/pwck.c b/src/pwck.c
index 0e7dfe7c9a..c35f03e695 100644
--- a/src/pwck.c
+++ b/src/pwck.c
@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ static void check_pw_file(bool *errors, bool *changed, const struct option_flags
 		 */
 
 		if (!is_valid_user_name(pwd->pw_name)) {
-			if (errno == EINVAL) {
+			if (errno == EILSEQ) {
 				printf(_("invalid user name '%s': use --badname to ignore\n"),
 				       pwd->pw_name);
 			} else {
diff --git a/src/useradd.c b/src/useradd.c
index a71a049dae..899efe3c84 100644
--- a/src/useradd.c
+++ b/src/useradd.c
@@ -1498,7 +1498,7 @@ static void process_flags (int argc, char **argv, struct option_flags *flags)
 
 		user_name = argv[optind];
 		if (!is_valid_user_name(user_name)) {
-			if (errno == EINVAL) {
+			if (errno == EILSEQ) {
 				fprintf(stderr,
 				        _("%s: invalid user name '%s': use --badname to ignore\n"),
 				        Prog, user_name);
diff --git a/src/usermod.c b/src/usermod.c
index 2418514dd3..e8c9da6687 100644
--- a/src/usermod.c
+++ b/src/usermod.c
@@ -1137,7 +1137,7 @@ process_flags(int argc, char **argv, struct option_flags *flags)
 				/*@notreached@*/break;
 			case 'l':
 				if (!is_valid_user_name(optarg)) {
-					if (errno == EINVAL) {
+					if (errno == EILSEQ) {
 						fprintf(stderr,
 						        _("%s: invalid user name '%s': use --badname to ignore\n"),
 						        Prog, optarg);