diff --git a/C4/Koha.pm b/C4/Koha.pm
index d68cc96216..31ffa37b2c 100644
--- a/C4/Koha.pm
+++ b/C4/Koha.pm
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ package C4::Koha;
 use strict;
 use C4::Context;
 use C4::Output;
+
+use MIME::Base64 qw(encode_base64 decode_base64);
+use Encode qw(encode decode);
+
 use vars qw($VERSION @ISA @EXPORT $DEBUG);
 
 BEGIN {
@@ -50,6 +54,8 @@ BEGIN {
 		&GetKohaAuthorisedValues
 		&GetAuthValCode
 		&GetManagedTagSubfields
+        &str_to_base64
+        &base64_to_str
 
 		$DEBUG
 	);
@@ -920,6 +926,44 @@ ORDER BY marc_subfield_structure.tagfield, tagsubfield|);
   return $data;
 }
 
+=head2 str_to_base64
+
+=over 4
+
+my $base64 = str_to_base64($string_containing_unicode);
+
+=back
+
+Get a Base64 version of a string that is in UTF-8.  This
+function can be used to convert an arbitrary coded value
+(like a branch code) into a form that can be safely concatenated
+with similarly encoded values for a HTML form input name, as
+in admin/issuingrules.pl.
+
+=cut
+
+sub str_to_base64 {
+    my $in = shift;
+    return encode_base64(encode("UTF-8", $in), '');
+}
+
+=head2 base64_to_str
+
+=over 4
+
+my $base64 = base64_to_str($string_containing_unicode);
+
+=back
+
+Converse of C<str_to_base64()>.
+
+=cut
+
+sub base64_to_str {
+    my $in = shift;
+    return decode("UTF-8", decode_base64($in));
+}
+
 1;
 
 __END__
diff --git a/admin/finesrules.pl b/admin/finesrules.pl
index 3fea7f3848..e89e7adee3 100755
--- a/admin/finesrules.pl
+++ b/admin/finesrules.pl
@@ -55,10 +55,10 @@ if ($op eq 'save') {
 
   foreach my $key (@names){
     # FINES
-    if ($key =~ /F-(.*)-(.*)\.(.*)/) {
-      my $br = $1; # branch
-      my $bor = $2; # borrower category
-      my $cat = $3; # item type
+    if ($key =~ /F-(.*)-(.*)-(.*)/) {
+      my $br = base64_to_str($1); # branch
+      my $bor = base64_to_str($2); # borrower category
+      my $cat = base64_to_str($3); # item type
       my $data=$input->param($key);
       my ($fine,$firstremind,$chargeperiod)=split(',',$data);
       $bor="*" unless ($bor);
@@ -129,7 +129,8 @@ foreach my $data (@itemtypes) {
         $fine =~ s/\.*0*$//g;
         my $finesvalue;
         $finesvalue= "$fine,$dat->{'firstremind'},$dat->{'chargeperiod'}" if $fine ne '';
-        my %row = (finesname=> "F-$branch-$trow3[$i].$$data->{'itemtype'}",
+        my $finesname = join("-", "F", map { str_to_base64($_) } ($branch, $trow3[$i], $$data->{'itemtype'}));
+        my %row = (finesname=> $finesname,
                     finesvalue => $finesvalue,
                     toggle => $toggle,
                     );
diff --git a/admin/issuingrules.pl b/admin/issuingrules.pl
index d1a90c1a40..54d6b79b69 100755
--- a/admin/issuingrules.pl
+++ b/admin/issuingrules.pl
@@ -53,10 +53,10 @@ if ($op eq 'save') {
     my $sth_Idelete=$dbh->prepare("DELETE FROM issuingrules WHERE branchcode=? AND categorycode=? AND itemtype=?");
     foreach my $key (@names){
         # ISSUES
-        if ($key =~ /I-(.*)-(.*)\.(.*)/) {
-            my $br = $1; # branch
-            my $bor = $2; # borrower category
-            my $cat = $3; # item type
+        if ($key =~ /I-(.*)-(.*)-(.*)/) {
+            my $br = base64_to_str($1); # branch
+            my $bor =  base64_to_str($2); # borrower category
+            my $cat =  base64_to_str($3); # item type
             my $data=$input->param($key);
             my ($issuelength,$maxissueqty,$rentaldiscount)=split(',',$data);
             if ($maxissueqty) {
@@ -131,7 +131,8 @@ foreach my $data (@itemtypes) {
         my $issuelength = $dat->{'issuelength'};
         my $issuingvalue;
         $issuingvalue = "$issuelength,$maxissueqty" if $maxissueqty ne '';
-        my %row = (issuingname => "I-$branch-$trow3[$i].$$data->{itemtype}",
+        my $issuingname = join("-", "I", map { str_to_base64($_) } ($branch, $trow3[$i], $$data->{itemtype}) );
+        my %row = (issuingname => $issuingname,
                     issuingvalue => $issuingvalue,
                     toggle => $toggle,
                     );