diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/SimpleMongoDbFactory.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/SimpleMongoDbFactory.java
index 0db2b51ef..978a787b2 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/SimpleMongoDbFactory.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/SimpleMongoDbFactory.java
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ public class SimpleMongoDbFactory implements DisposableBean, MongoDbFactory {
 	public SimpleMongoDbFactory(Mongo mongo, String databaseName) {
 		Assert.notNull(mongo, "Mongo must not be null");
 		Assert.hasText(databaseName, "Database name must not be empty");
+		Assert.isTrue(databaseName.matches("[\\w-]+"), "Database name must only contain letters, numbers, underscores and dashes!");
 		this.mongo = mongo;
 		this.databaseName = databaseName;
 	}
diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/SimpleMongoDbFactoryUnitTests.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/SimpleMongoDbFactoryUnitTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..609f264b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/SimpleMongoDbFactoryUnitTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2011 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.data.mongodb.core;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.runners.MockitoJUnitRunner;
+
+import com.mongodb.Mongo;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for {@link SimpleMongoDbFactory}.
+ * 
+ * @author Oliver Gierke
+ */
+@RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)
+public class SimpleMongoDbFactoryUnitTests {
+
+	@Mock
+	Mongo mongo;
+
+	/**
+	 * @see DATADOC-254
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void rejectsIllegalDatabaseNames() {
+		rejectsDatabaseName("foo.bar");
+		rejectsDatabaseName("foo!bar");
+	}
+	
+	/**
+	 * @see DATADOC-254
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void allowsDatabaseNames() {
+		new SimpleMongoDbFactory(mongo, "foo-bar");
+		new SimpleMongoDbFactory(mongo, "foo_bar");
+		new SimpleMongoDbFactory(mongo, "foo01231bar");
+	}
+
+	private void rejectsDatabaseName(String databaseName) {
+
+		try {
+			new SimpleMongoDbFactory(mongo, databaseName);
+			fail("Expected database name " + databaseName + " to be rejected!");
+		} catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
+
+		}
+	}
+}