diff --git a/src/libnm-client-impl/nm-libnm-utils.c b/src/libnm-client-impl/nm-libnm-utils.c
index 045dc6a5b7..671466cf93 100644
--- a/src/libnm-client-impl/nm-libnm-utils.c
+++ b/src/libnm-client-impl/nm-libnm-utils.c
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ _fixup_string(const char *       desc,
             in_paren = TRUE;
         else if (*p == ')')
             in_paren = FALSE;
-        else if (NM_IN_SET(*p, '_', ',') || *p < ' ' || in_paren) {
+        else if (NM_IN_SET(*p, '_', ',') || nm_ascii_is_ctrl_or_del(*p) || in_paren) {
             /* pass */
         } else
             continue;