diff --git a/bookwyrm/utils/regex.py b/bookwyrm/utils/regex.py
index 9c2cb5317..5d4bf77bf 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/utils/regex.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/utils/regex.py
@@ -3,10 +3,7 @@
 DOMAIN = r"[\w_\-\.]+\.[a-z\-]{2,}"
 LOCALNAME = r"@?[a-zA-Z_\-\.0-9]+"
 STRICT_LOCALNAME = r"@[a-zA-Z_\-\.0-9]+"
-REMOTENAME = (
-    r"[\w\-\.\~\!\$\&\'\(\)\*\+\,\;\=]"
-    r"(?:[\w\-\.\~\!\$\&\'\(\)\*\+\,\;\=]|(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})){0,149}"
-)
+REMOTENAME = r"[\w\-\.\~](?:[\w\-\.\~]|(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})){0,149}"
 USERNAME = rf"{LOCALNAME}(@{DOMAIN})?"
 STRICT_USERNAME = rf"(\B{STRICT_LOCALNAME}(@{DOMAIN})?\b)"
 FULL_USERNAME = rf"{LOCALNAME}@{DOMAIN}\b"