diff --git a/init/action_parser.cpp b/init/action_parser.cpp
index 9736824f9..a8e1e09f8 100644
--- a/init/action_parser.cpp
+++ b/init/action_parser.cpp
@@ -16,11 +16,14 @@
 
 #include "action_parser.h"
 
+#include <ctype.h>
+
 #include <android-base/properties.h>
 #include <android-base/strings.h>
 
 #if defined(__ANDROID__)
 #include "property_service.h"
+#include "selinux.h"
 #else
 #include "host_init_stubs.h"
 #endif
@@ -77,6 +80,17 @@ Result<void> ParsePropertyTrigger(const std::string& trigger, Subcontext* subcon
     return {};
 }
 
+Result<void> ValidateEventTrigger(const std::string& event_trigger) {
+    if (SelinuxGetVendorAndroidVersion() >= __ANDROID_API_R__) {
+        for (const char& c : event_trigger) {
+            if (c != '_' && c != '-' && !std::isalnum(c)) {
+                return Error() << "Illegal character '" << c << "' in '" << event_trigger << "'";
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return {};
+}
+
 Result<void> ParseTriggers(const std::vector<std::string>& args, Subcontext* subcontext,
                            std::string* event_trigger,
                            std::map<std::string, std::string>* property_triggers) {
@@ -103,6 +117,9 @@ Result<void> ParseTriggers(const std::vector<std::string>& args, Subcontext* sub
             if (!event_trigger->empty()) {
                 return Error() << "multiple event triggers are not allowed";
             }
+            if (auto result = ValidateEventTrigger(args[i]); !result) {
+                return result;
+            }
 
             *event_trigger = args[i];
         }
diff --git a/init/init_test.cpp b/init/init_test.cpp
index 315d584be..9f63e4f2f 100644
--- a/init/init_test.cpp
+++ b/init/init_test.cpp
@@ -93,6 +93,26 @@ pass_test
     EXPECT_TRUE(expect_true);
 }
 
+TEST(init, WrongEventTrigger) {
+    std::string init_script =
+            R"init(
+on boot:
+pass_test
+)init";
+
+    TemporaryFile tf;
+    ASSERT_TRUE(tf.fd != -1);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(android::base::WriteStringToFd(init_script, tf.fd));
+
+    ActionManager am;
+
+    Parser parser;
+    parser.AddSectionParser("on", std::make_unique<ActionParser>(&am, nullptr));
+
+    ASSERT_TRUE(parser.ParseConfig(tf.path));
+    ASSERT_EQ(1u, parser.parse_error_count());
+}
+
 TEST(init, EventTriggerOrder) {
     std::string init_script =
         R"init(