diff --git a/pkg/azuredisk/azure_managedDiskController.go b/pkg/azuredisk/azure_managedDiskController.go
index 630e96f07c..11542050ac 100644
--- a/pkg/azuredisk/azure_managedDiskController.go
+++ b/pkg/azuredisk/azure_managedDiskController.go
@@ -124,10 +124,8 @@ func (c *ManagedDiskController) CreateManagedDisk(ctx context.Context, options *
 	newTags[consts.CreatedByTag] = &azureDDTag
 	if options.Tags != nil {
 		for k, v := range options.Tags {
-			// Azure won't allow / (forward slash) in tags
-			newKey := strings.Replace(k, "/", "-", -1)
-			newValue := strings.Replace(v, "/", "-", -1)
-			newTags[newKey] = &newValue
+			value := v
+			newTags[k] = &value
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/util/util.go b/pkg/util/util.go
index 61dd6c91be..90bfe33cb4 100644
--- a/pkg/util/util.go
+++ b/pkg/util/util.go
@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@ func ConvertTagsToMap(tags string) (map[string]string, error) {
 		if key == "" {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("Tags '%s' are invalid, the format should like: 'key1=value1,key2=value2'", tags)
 		}
+		// <>%&?/. are not allowed in tag key
+		if strings.ContainsAny(key, "<>%&?/.") {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("Tag key '%s' contains invalid characters", key)
+		}
 		value := strings.TrimSpace(kv[1])
 		m[key] = value
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/util/util_test.go b/pkg/util/util_test.go
index b7e9b9439d..0cc62e791f 100644
--- a/pkg/util/util_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/util_test.go
@@ -109,6 +109,18 @@ func TestConvertTagsToMap(t *testing.T) {
 			expectedOutput: nil,
 			expectedError:  true,
 		},
+		{
+			desc:           "should return error for invalid characters in key",
+			tags:           "key/1=value1,<bar",
+			expectedOutput: nil,
+			expectedError:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			desc:           "should return success for special characters in value",
+			tags:           "key1=value1,key2=<>%&?/.",
+			expectedOutput: map[string]string{"key1": "value1", "key2": "<>%&?/."},
+			expectedError:  false,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for i, c := range testCases {