diff --git a/doc/PKGBUILD.5.txt b/doc/PKGBUILD.5.txt
index fad93e5c..ffbb69bd 100644
--- a/doc/PKGBUILD.5.txt
+++ b/doc/PKGBUILD.5.txt
@@ -40,8 +40,9 @@ similar to `$_basekernver`.
 
 *pkgname (array)*::
 	Either the name of the package or an array of names for split packages.
-	Because it will be used in the package filename, this has to be unix-friendly.
-	Members of the array are not allowed to start with hyphens.
+	Valid characters for members of this array are alphanumerics, and any of
+	the following characters: ```@ . _ + -`''. Additionally, names are not
+	allowed to start with hyphens.
 
 *pkgver*::
 	The version of the software as released from the author (e.g., '2.7.1').
diff --git a/scripts/makepkg.sh.in b/scripts/makepkg.sh.in
index eeb7ede1..6990572b 100644
--- a/scripts/makepkg.sh.in
+++ b/scripts/makepkg.sh.in
@@ -1454,6 +1454,11 @@ check_sanity() {
 			error "$(gettext "%s is not allowed to start with a hyphen.")" "pkgname"
 			ret=1
 		fi
+		if [[ $i = *[^[:alnum:]+_.@-]* ]]; then
+			error "$(gettext "%s contains invalid characters: '%s'")" \
+					'pkgname' "${pkgname//[[:alnum:]+_.@-]}"
+			ret=1
+		fi
 	done
 
 	if [[ ${pkgbase:0:1} = "-" ]]; then