diff --git a/app/lib/database/utils.test.ts b/app/lib/database/utils.test.ts
index 3c914112c13..9ccc06a28f8 100644
--- a/app/lib/database/utils.test.ts
+++ b/app/lib/database/utils.test.ts
@@ -69,4 +69,10 @@ describe('slugifyLikeString', () => {
 		const textSlugified = 'tesuto123';
 		expect(utils.slugifyLikeString(textToSlugify)).toBe(textSlugified);
 	});
+	test('slugify with special characters - should sanitize before slugifying', () => {
+		// Special characters should be replaced with '_' before slugifying
+		expect(utils.slugifyLikeString('test@#$123')).toBe('test___123');
+		expect(utils.slugifyLikeString('hello.world!')).toBe('hello_world_');
+		expect(utils.slugifyLikeString('user-name_123')).toBe('user_name_123');
+	});
 });
diff --git a/app/lib/database/utils.ts b/app/lib/database/utils.ts
index 8bc2df1946b..5e7d6107476 100644
--- a/app/lib/database/utils.ts
+++ b/app/lib/database/utils.ts
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ export const sanitizeLikeString = (str?: string): string | undefined => str?.rep
 // slugifyLikeString('テスト123') => 'tesuto123'
 export const slugifyLikeString = (str?: string) => {
 	if (!str) return '';
-	str?.replace(likeStringRegex, '_');
-	const slugified = slugify(str);
+	const sanitized = str.replace(likeStringRegex, '_');
+	const slugified = slugify(sanitized);
 	return slugified;
 };