diff --git a/src/core/dhcp/nm-dhcp-nettools.c b/src/core/dhcp/nm-dhcp-nettools.c
index fe71f587a4..2b95104e99 100644
--- a/src/core/dhcp/nm-dhcp-nettools.c
+++ b/src/core/dhcp/nm-dhcp-nettools.c
@@ -694,7 +694,10 @@ lease_to_ip4_config(NMDedupMultiIndex *multi_idx,
 
         /* https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2132#section-8.1 */
 
-        v_str = nm_utils_buf_utf8safe_escape((char *) l_data, l_data_len, 0, &to_free);
+        v_str = nm_utils_buf_utf8safe_escape((char *) l_data,
+                                             l_data_len,
+                                             NM_UTILS_STR_UTF8_SAFE_FLAG_ESCAPE_CTRL,
+                                             &to_free);
 
         nm_dhcp_option_add_option(options, AF_INET, NM_DHCP_OPTION_DHCP4_NIS_DOMAIN, v_str ?: "");
         nm_ip4_config_set_nis_domain(ip4_config, v_str ?: "");
diff --git a/src/core/dhcp/nm-dhcp-options.c b/src/core/dhcp/nm-dhcp-options.c
index 8f0d7408a9..7756572600 100644
--- a/src/core/dhcp/nm-dhcp-options.c
+++ b/src/core/dhcp/nm-dhcp-options.c
@@ -404,7 +404,10 @@ nm_dhcp_option_add_option_utf8safe_escape(GHashTable *  options,
     gs_free char *to_free = NULL;
     const char *  escaped;
 
-    escaped = nm_utils_buf_utf8safe_escape((char *) data, n_data, 0, &to_free);
+    escaped = nm_utils_buf_utf8safe_escape((char *) data,
+                                           n_data,
+                                           NM_UTILS_STR_UTF8_SAFE_FLAG_ESCAPE_CTRL,
+                                           &to_free);
     nm_dhcp_option_add_option(options, addr_family, option, escaped ?: "");
 }