diff --git a/include/loot/metadata/file.h b/include/loot/metadata/file.h
index 0b9dd21c..59e0c4f4 100644
--- a/include/loot/metadata/file.h
+++ b/include/loot/metadata/file.h
@@ -47,7 +47,8 @@ public:
    * @param  name
    *         The filename of the file.
    * @param  display
-   *         The name to be displayed for the file in messages.
+   *         The name to be displayed for the file in messages, formatted using
+   *         GitHub Flavored Markdown.
    * @param  condition
    *         The File's condition string.
    * @return A File object.
@@ -77,7 +78,12 @@ public:
 
   /**
    * Get the display name of the file.
-   * @return The file's display name.
+   *
+   * If the File was constructed with an empty display string, the name field
+   * will be returned instead, with any `ASCII punctuation characters
+   * <https://github.github.com/gfm/#ascii-punctuation-character>`_ escaped.
+   * Escaping is not performed if returning the value of the display string.
+   * @return The file's display name or filename.
    */
   LOOT_API std::string GetDisplayName() const;
 
diff --git a/src/api/helpers/text.cpp b/src/api/helpers/text.cpp
index a5cac26b..2f1e1843 100644
--- a/src/api/helpers/text.cpp
+++ b/src/api/helpers/text.cpp
@@ -71,6 +71,13 @@ const std::vector<regex> versionRegexes({
         regex::ECMAScript | regex::icase),
 });
 
+// As defined by <https://github.github.com/gfm/#ascii-punctuation-character>.
+const regex asciiPunctuationCharacters("([!\"#$%&'()*+,\\-./:;<=>?@\\[\\\\\\]^_`{|}~])");
+
+std::string EscapeMarkdownASCIIPunctuation(const std::string& text) {
+  return std::regex_replace(text, asciiPunctuationCharacters, "\\$1");
+}
+
 std::vector<Tag> ExtractBashTags(const std::string& description) {
   std::vector<Tag> tags;
 
diff --git a/src/api/helpers/text.h b/src/api/helpers/text.h
index c0729c97..5db702f3 100644
--- a/src/api/helpers/text.h
+++ b/src/api/helpers/text.h
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@
 #include "loot/metadata/tag.h"
 
 namespace loot {
+std::string EscapeMarkdownASCIIPunctuation(const std::string& text);
+
 std::vector<Tag> ExtractBashTags(const std::string& description);
 
 std::optional<std::string> ExtractVersion(const std::string& text);
diff --git a/src/api/metadata/file.cpp b/src/api/metadata/file.cpp
index 5976b566..59ac9518 100644
--- a/src/api/metadata/file.cpp
+++ b/src/api/metadata/file.cpp
@@ -65,10 +65,11 @@ bool File::operator==(const File& rhs) const {
 Filename File::GetName() const { return name_; }
 
 std::string File::GetDisplayName() const {
-  if (display_.empty())
-    return std::string(name_);
-  else
-    return display_;
+  if (display_.empty()) {
+    return EscapeMarkdownASCIIPunctuation(std::string(name_));
+  }
+
+  return display_;
 }
 
 bool operator!=(const File& lhs, const File& rhs) { return !(lhs == rhs); }
diff --git a/src/api/metadata/yaml/file.h b/src/api/metadata/yaml/file.h
index 4ba02d84..fce37cfa 100644
--- a/src/api/metadata/yaml/file.h
+++ b/src/api/metadata/yaml/file.h
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 #include <yaml-cpp/yaml.h>
 
 #include "loot/metadata/file.h"
+#include "api/helpers/text.h"
 
 namespace YAML {
 template<>
@@ -42,8 +43,11 @@ struct convert<loot::File> {
     if (rhs.IsConditional())
       node["condition"] = rhs.GetCondition();
 
-    if (rhs.GetDisplayName() != std::string(rhs.GetName()))
+    auto escapedName =
+        loot::EscapeMarkdownASCIIPunctuation(std::string(rhs.GetName()));
+    if (rhs.GetDisplayName() != escapedName) {
       node["display"] = rhs.GetDisplayName();
+    }
 
     return node;
   }
@@ -83,9 +87,11 @@ struct convert<loot::File> {
 };
 
 inline Emitter& operator<<(Emitter& out, const loot::File& rhs) {
+  auto escapedName = loot::EscapeMarkdownASCIIPunctuation(std::string(rhs.GetName()));
+
   if (!rhs.IsConditional() &&
       (rhs.GetDisplayName().empty() ||
-       rhs.GetDisplayName() == std::string(rhs.GetName())))
+       rhs.GetDisplayName() == escapedName))
     out << YAML::SingleQuoted << std::string(rhs.GetName());
   else {
     out << BeginMap << Key << "name" << Value << YAML::SingleQuoted
@@ -95,7 +101,7 @@ inline Emitter& operator<<(Emitter& out, const loot::File& rhs) {
       out << Key << "condition" << Value << YAML::SingleQuoted
           << rhs.GetCondition();
 
-    if (rhs.GetDisplayName() != std::string(rhs.GetName()))
+    if (rhs.GetDisplayName() != escapedName)
       out << Key << "display" << Value << YAML::SingleQuoted
           << rhs.GetDisplayName();
 
diff --git a/src/tests/api/internals/metadata/file_test.h b/src/tests/api/internals/metadata/file_test.h
index e4070b8c..95fa445a 100644
--- a/src/tests/api/internals/metadata/file_test.h
+++ b/src/tests/api/internals/metadata/file_test.h
@@ -275,6 +275,31 @@ TEST(
   EXPECT_TRUE(file2 >= file1);
 }
 
+TEST(File, getDisplayNameShouldReturnDisplayStringIfItIsNotEmpty) {
+  File file("name", "display");
+
+  EXPECT_EQ("display", file.GetDisplayName());
+}
+
+TEST(File, getDisplayNameShouldReturnNameStringIfDisplayStringIsEmpty) {
+  File file("name", "");
+
+  EXPECT_EQ("name", file.GetDisplayName());
+}
+TEST(File, getDisplayNameShouldNotEscapeASCIIPunctuationInDisplayString) {
+  auto display = "!\"#$%&'()*+,-./:;<=>?@[\\]^_`{|}~";
+  File file("name", display);
+
+  EXPECT_EQ(display, file.GetDisplayName());
+}
+
+TEST(File, getDisplayNameShouldEscapeASCIIPunctuationInNameString) {
+  File file("!\"#$%&'()*+,-./:;<=>?@[\\]^_`{|}~");
+
+  EXPECT_EQ(R"raw(\!\"\#\$\%\&\'\(\)\*\+\,\-\.\/\:\;\<\=\>\?\@\[\\\]\^\_\`\{\|\}\~)raw",
+            file.GetDisplayName());
+}
+
 TEST(File, emittingAsYamlShouldSingleQuoteValues) {
   File file("name1", "display1", "condition1");
   YAML::Emitter emitter;
@@ -287,19 +312,21 @@ TEST(File, emittingAsYamlShouldSingleQuoteValues) {
 }
 
 TEST(File, emittingAsYamlShouldOutputAsAScalarIfOnlyTheNameStringIsNotEmpty) {
-  File file("name1");
+  File file("file.esp");
   YAML::Emitter emitter;
   emitter << file;
 
   EXPECT_EQ("'" + std::string(file.GetName()) + "'", emitter.c_str());
 }
 
-TEST(File, emittingAsYamlShouldOmitDisplayFieldIfItMatchesTheNameField) {
-  File file("name1", "name1");
+TEST(
+    File,
+    emittingAsYamlShouldOmitDisplayFieldIfItMatchesTheNameFieldAfterEscapingASCIIPunctuation) {
+  File file("file.esp", "file\\.esp");
   YAML::Emitter emitter;
   emitter << file;
 
-  EXPECT_EQ("'" + std::string(file.GetName()) + "'", emitter.c_str());
+  EXPECT_STREQ("'file.esp'", emitter.c_str());
 }
 
 TEST(File, emittingAsYamlShouldOmitAnEmptyConditionString) {
@@ -323,7 +350,7 @@ TEST(File, encodingAsYamlShouldStoreDataCorrectly) {
 }
 
 TEST(File, encodingAsYamlShouldOmitEmptyFields) {
-  File file("name1");
+  File file("file.esp");
   YAML::Node node;
   node = file;
 
@@ -332,8 +359,10 @@ TEST(File, encodingAsYamlShouldOmitEmptyFields) {
   EXPECT_FALSE(node["condition"]);
 }
 
-TEST(File, encodingAsYamlShouldOmitDisplayFieldIfItMatchesTheNameField) {
-  File file("name1", "name1");
+TEST(
+    File,
+    encodingAsYamlShouldOmitDisplayFieldIfItMatchesTheNameFieldAfterEscapingASCIIPunctuation) {
+  File file("file.esp", "file\\.esp");
   YAML::Node node;
   node = file;