diff --git a/src/cache.c b/src/cache.c
index 88a57521..fa2e0b16 100644
--- a/src/cache.c
+++ b/src/cache.c
@@ -262,9 +262,6 @@ hsk_cache_key_set(hsk_cache_key_t *ck, const char *name, uint16_t type) {
   if (!hsk_dns_name_verify(name))
     return false;
 
-  if (hsk_dns_name_dirty(name))
-    return false;
-
   int labels = hsk_dns_label_count(name);
   bool ref = false;
 
diff --git a/src/dns.c b/src/dns.c
index f77fe8a6..4dbfc0b7 100644
--- a/src/dns.c
+++ b/src/dns.c
@@ -725,9 +725,6 @@ hsk_dns_rr_set_name(hsk_dns_rr_t *rr, const char *name) {
   if (!hsk_dns_name_verify(name))
     return false;
 
-  if (hsk_dns_name_dirty(name))
-    return false;
-
   if (hsk_dns_name_is_fqdn(name))
     strcpy(rr->name, name);
   else
@@ -2404,26 +2401,31 @@ hsk_dns_name_alloc(
 
 bool
 hsk_dns_name_dirty(const char *name) {
-  char *s = (char *)name;
+  int len = strlen(name);
+  if (len > HSK_DNS_MAX_LABEL)
+    return true;
 
-  while (*s) {
-    uint8_t c = (uint8_t)*s;
+  for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+    uint8_t c = name[i];
+
+    if (c >= 0x41 && c <= 0x5a)
+      c ^= 0x20;
 
     switch (c) {
-      case 0x28 /*(*/:
-      case 0x29 /*)*/:
-      case 0x3b /*;*/:
-      case 0x20 /* */:
-      case 0x40 /*@*/:
-      case 0x22 /*"*/:
-      case 0x5c /*\\*/:
-        return true;
+      case 0x5f: /* _ */
+      case 0x2d: /* - */
+        if (i == 0 || i == len - 1) {
+          return true;
+        } else {
+          continue;
+        }
     }
 
-    if (c < 0x20 || c > 0x7e)
+    if (c < 0x30 ||
+       (c > 0x39 && c < 0x61) ||
+        c > 0x7a) {
       return true;
-
-    s += 1;
+    }
   }
 
   return false;
diff --git a/src/ns.c b/src/ns.c
index 1325c590..906b06c2 100644
--- a/src/ns.c
+++ b/src/ns.c
@@ -297,6 +297,10 @@ hsk_ns_onrecv(
   const struct sockaddr *addr,
   uint32_t flags
 ) {
+  uint8_t *wire = NULL;
+  size_t wire_len = 0;
+  hsk_dns_msg_t *msg = NULL;
+
   hsk_dns_req_t *req = hsk_dns_req_create(data, data_len, addr);
 
   if (!req) {
@@ -306,10 +310,6 @@ hsk_ns_onrecv(
 
   hsk_dns_req_print(req, "ns: ");
 
-  uint8_t *wire = NULL;
-  size_t wire_len = 0;
-  hsk_dns_msg_t *msg = NULL;
-
   // Hit cache first.
   msg = hsk_cache_get(&ns->cache, req);
 
@@ -434,6 +434,28 @@ hsk_ns_onrecv(
     goto done;
   }
 
+  // Send REFUSED if name is dirty
+  // (contains escaped byte codes or special characters)
+  if (hsk_dns_name_dirty(req->tld)) {
+    msg = hsk_resource_to_refused();
+
+    if (!msg) {
+      hsk_ns_log(ns, "failed creating refused\n");
+      goto fail;
+    }
+
+    if (!hsk_dns_msg_finalize(&msg, req, ns->ec, ns->key, &wire, &wire_len)) {
+      hsk_ns_log(ns, "could not reply\n");
+      goto done;
+    }
+
+    hsk_ns_log(ns, "refusing query for msg (%u): %u\n", req->id, wire_len);
+
+    hsk_ns_send(ns, wire, wire_len, addr, true);
+
+    goto done;
+  }
+
   // Requesting a lookup.
   if (req->labels > 0) {
     // Check blacklist.
diff --git a/src/req.c b/src/req.c
index 062aaa06..cb2f7e8e 100644
--- a/src/req.c
+++ b/src/req.c
@@ -83,22 +83,9 @@ hsk_dns_req_create(
   // Grab the first question.
   hsk_dns_qs_t *qs = msg->qd.items[0];
 
-#if 0
-  if (qs->class != HSK_DNS_IN)
-    goto fail;
-
-  // Don't allow dirty names.
-  if (hsk_dns_name_dirty(qs->name))
-    goto fail;
-#endif
-
   // Check for a TLD.
   hsk_dns_label_get(qs->name, -1, req->tld);
 
-  // Don't allow dirty TLDs.
-  if (hsk_dns_name_dirty(req->tld))
-    goto fail;
-
   // Lowercase.
   hsk_to_lower(req->tld);
 
diff --git a/src/resource.c b/src/resource.c
index 96e2f5fa..41cd5400 100644
--- a/src/resource.c
+++ b/src/resource.c
@@ -1133,6 +1133,18 @@ hsk_resource_to_servfail(void) {
   return msg;
 }
 
+hsk_dns_msg_t *
+hsk_resource_to_refused(void) {
+  hsk_dns_msg_t *msg = hsk_dns_msg_alloc();
+
+  if (!msg)
+    return NULL;
+
+  msg->code = HSK_DNS_REFUSED;
+
+  return msg;
+}
+
 hsk_dns_msg_t *
 hsk_resource_to_notimp(void) {
   hsk_dns_msg_t *msg = hsk_dns_msg_alloc();
diff --git a/src/resource.h b/src/resource.h
index 46e73b1f..f7c17319 100644
--- a/src/resource.h
+++ b/src/resource.h
@@ -88,6 +88,9 @@ hsk_resource_to_nx(void);
 hsk_dns_msg_t *
 hsk_resource_to_servfail(void);
 
+hsk_dns_msg_t *
+hsk_resource_to_refused(void);
+
 hsk_dns_msg_t *
 hsk_resource_to_notimp(void);
 
diff --git a/test/hnsd-test.c b/test/hnsd-test.c
index 7ec7b071..80782648 100644
--- a/test/hnsd-test.c
+++ b/test/hnsd-test.c
@@ -60,11 +60,34 @@ test_pointer_to_ip() {
   assert(family6 == HSK_DNS_AAAA);
 }
 
+void
+test_name_dirty() {
+  printf("test_name_dirty\n");
+
+  assert(!hsk_dns_name_dirty("hello"));
+  assert(!hsk_dns_name_dirty("HELLO"));
+  assert(!hsk_dns_name_dirty("heLLo"));
+  assert(!hsk_dns_name_dirty("HeLl0"));
+  assert(!hsk_dns_name_dirty("hel-lo"));
+  assert(!hsk_dns_name_dirty("1"));
+  assert(!hsk_dns_name_dirty("000_000"));
+  assert(!hsk_dns_name_dirty("this-domain-name-has-sixty-three-octets-taking-max-label-length"));
+  assert(hsk_dns_name_dirty("hel!lo"));
+  assert(hsk_dns_name_dirty("-hello"));
+  assert(hsk_dns_name_dirty("hello_"));
+  assert(hsk_dns_name_dirty("1@1"));
+  assert(hsk_dns_name_dirty("x\\000y"));
+  assert(hsk_dns_name_dirty("H&ELLO"));
+  assert(hsk_dns_name_dirty("3 3"));
+  assert(hsk_dns_name_dirty("this-domain-name-has-sixtyfour-octets-exceeding-max-label-length"));
+}
+
 int
 main() {
   printf("Testing hnsd...\n");
   test_base32();
   test_pointer_to_ip();
+  test_name_dirty();
 
   printf("ok\n");