diff --git a/apps/assets/automations/base/manager.py b/apps/assets/automations/base/manager.py
index 3641070bb..5878feb56 100644
--- a/apps/assets/automations/base/manager.py
+++ b/apps/assets/automations/base/manager.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import hashlib
 import json
 import logging
 import os
+import re
 import shutil
 import time
 from collections import defaultdict
@@ -27,6 +28,12 @@ from users.utils import activate_user_language
 logger = get_logger(__name__)
 
 BULK_SIZE = 80
+RUNTIME_DIR_UNSAFE_CHARS = re.compile(r'[\s/\\:<>|"?*\x00-\x1f]+')
+
+
+def safe_runtime_dir_name(name):
+    dir_name = RUNTIME_DIR_UNSAFE_CHARS.sub('_', str(name or '')).strip('_')
+    return dir_name or 'automation'
 
 
 class SSHTunnelManager:
@@ -239,7 +246,7 @@ class PlaybookPrepareMixin:
     def prepare_runtime_dir(self):
         ansible_dir = settings.ANSIBLE_DIR
         task_name = self.execution.snapshot["name"]
-        dir_name = "{}_{}".format(task_name.replace(" ", "_"), self.execution.id)
+        dir_name = "{}_{}".format(safe_runtime_dir_name(task_name), self.execution.id)
         path = os.path.join(
             ansible_dir,
             "automations",