diff --git a/gitweb/gitweb.perl b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
index 746153ffe8..4abd7ac1ad 100755
--- a/gitweb/gitweb.perl
+++ b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ sub evaluate_path_info {
 	}
 	# do not change any parameters if an action is given using the query string
 	return if $action;
-	$path_info =~ s,^$project/*,,;
+	$path_info =~ s,^\Q$project\E/*,,;
 	my ($refname, $pathname) = split(/:/, $path_info, 2);
 	if (defined $pathname) {
 		# we got "project.git/branch:filename" or "project.git/branch:dir/"