diff --git a/lib/main.js b/lib/main.js
index f8262d70..5464be8f 100644
--- a/lib/main.js
+++ b/lib/main.js
@@ -92,7 +92,9 @@ Lambda.prototype._runHandler = function (handler, event, program, context) {
 
 Lambda.prototype._params = function (program, buffer) {
   var params = {
-    FunctionName: program.functionName + (program.environment ? '-' + program.environment : ''),
+    FunctionName: program.functionName
+      + (program.environment ? '-' + program.environment : '')
+      + (program.lambdaVersion ? '-' + program.lambdaVersion : ''),
     Code: {
       ZipFile: buffer
     },
@@ -117,9 +119,10 @@ Lambda.prototype._params = function (program, buffer) {
       Mode: null
     }
   };
-  if (program.lambdaVersion) {
-    params.FunctionName += ('-' + program.lambdaVersion);
-  }
+
+  // Escape characters that is not allowed by AWS Lambda
+  params.FunctionName = params.FunctionName.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9-_]/g, '_');
+
   if (program.vpcSubnets && program.vpcSecurityGroups) {
     params.VpcConfig = {
       'SubnetIds': program.vpcSubnets.split(','),
diff --git a/test/main.js b/test/main.js
index 55c26aa9..586bd27c 100644
--- a/test/main.js
+++ b/test/main.js
@@ -65,21 +65,34 @@ describe('node-lambda', function () {
   });
 
   describe('_params', function () {
+    // http://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/API_CreateFunction.html#SSS-CreateFunction-request-FunctionName
+    const functionNamePattern =
+      /(arn:aws:lambda:)?([a-z]{2}-[a-z]+-\d{1}:)?(\d{12}:)?(function:)?([a-zA-Z0-9-_]+)(:(\$LATEST|[a-zA-Z0-9-_]+))?/;
     it('appends environment to original functionName', function () {
       var params = lambda._params(program);
       assert.equal(params.FunctionName, '___node-lambda-development');
+      assert.match(params.FunctionName, functionNamePattern);
     });
 
     it('appends environment to original functionName (production)', function () {
       program.environment = 'production';
       var params = lambda._params(program);
       assert.equal(params.FunctionName, '___node-lambda-production');
+      assert.match(params.FunctionName, functionNamePattern);
     });
 
     it('appends version to original functionName', function () {
       program.lambdaVersion = '2015-02-01';
       var params = lambda._params(program);
       assert.equal(params.FunctionName, '___node-lambda-development-2015-02-01');
+      assert.match(params.FunctionName, functionNamePattern);
+    });
+
+    it('appends version to original functionName (value not allowed by AWS)', function () {
+      program.lambdaVersion = '2015.02.01';
+      var params = lambda._params(program);
+      assert.equal(params.FunctionName, '___node-lambda-development-2015_02_01');
+      assert.match(params.FunctionName, functionNamePattern);
     });
 
     it('appends VpcConfig to params when vpc params set', function() {