diff --git a/src/hypervisor/domain_driver.c b/src/hypervisor/domain_driver.c
index f7d49bc38a..29e11c0447 100644
--- a/src/hypervisor/domain_driver.c
+++ b/src/hypervisor/domain_driver.c
@@ -63,18 +63,18 @@ virDomainMachineNameAppendValid(virBuffer *buf,
             break;
 
         if (*name == '.' || *name == '-') {
-            if (!skip)
+            if (!skip) {
                 virBufferAddChar(buf, *name);
-            skip = true;
+                skip = true;
+            }
             continue;
         }
 
-        skip = false;
-
         if (!strchr(HOSTNAME_CHARS, *name))
             continue;
 
         virBufferAddChar(buf, *name);
+        skip = false;
     }
 
     /* trailing dashes or dots are not allowed */
diff --git a/tests/virsystemdtest.c b/tests/virsystemdtest.c
index f1c9a4ee5f..a09b428a8a 100644
--- a/tests/virsystemdtest.c
+++ b/tests/virsystemdtest.c
@@ -736,6 +736,9 @@ mymain(void)
     TEST_MACHINE("demo.-.test.", NULL, 11, "qemu-11-demo.test");
     TEST_MACHINE("demo", "/tmp/root1", 1, "qemu-embed-0991f456-1-demo");
     TEST_MACHINE("demo", "/tmp/root2", 1, "qemu-embed-95d47ff5-1-demo");
+    TEST_MACHINE("|.-m", NULL, 1, "qemu-1-m");
+    TEST_MACHINE("Auto-esx7.0-rhel7.9-special-characters~!@#$%^&*_=+,?><:;|.\"[]()`\\-m",
+                 NULL, 1, "qemu-1-Auto-esx7.0-rhel7.9-special-characters.m");
 
 # define TESTS_PM_SUPPORT_HELPER(name, function) \
     do { \