diff --git a/config/clusters/2i2c-aws-us/itcoocean.values.yaml b/config/clusters/2i2c-aws-us/itcoocean.values.yaml
index 5fe8104a9..409891f5b 100644
--- a/config/clusters/2i2c-aws-us/itcoocean.values.yaml
+++ b/config/clusters/2i2c-aws-us/itcoocean.values.yaml
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ jupyterhub:
         volumeMounts:
           - name: home
             mountPath: /home/jovyan
-            subPath: "{username}"
+            subPath: "{escaped_username}"
           # Mounted without readonly attribute here,
           # so we can chown it appropriately
           - name: home
diff --git a/config/clusters/hhmi/daskhub-common.values.yaml b/config/clusters/hhmi/daskhub-common.values.yaml
index 5905ae98a..50cb95a4e 100644
--- a/config/clusters/hhmi/daskhub-common.values.yaml
+++ b/config/clusters/hhmi/daskhub-common.values.yaml
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ basehub:
           volumeMounts:
             - name: home
               mountPath: /home/jovyan
-              subPath: "{username}"
+              subPath: "{escaped_username}"
             # Mounted without readonly attribute here,
             # so we can chown it appropriately
             - name: home
diff --git a/config/clusters/jupyter-meets-the-earth/daskhub-common.values.yaml b/config/clusters/jupyter-meets-the-earth/daskhub-common.values.yaml
index 60615fc21..63d88bbfe 100644
--- a/config/clusters/jupyter-meets-the-earth/daskhub-common.values.yaml
+++ b/config/clusters/jupyter-meets-the-earth/daskhub-common.values.yaml
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ basehub:
           volumeMounts:
             - name: home
               mountPath: /home/jovyan
-              subPath: "{username}"
+              subPath: "{escaped_username}"
             - name: home
               mountPath: /home/jovyan/shared
               subPath: _shared
diff --git a/config/clusters/nasa-cryo/common.values.yaml b/config/clusters/nasa-cryo/common.values.yaml
index 9160cd546..a83b2100e 100644
--- a/config/clusters/nasa-cryo/common.values.yaml
+++ b/config/clusters/nasa-cryo/common.values.yaml
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ basehub:
           volumeMounts:
             - name: home
               mountPath: /home/jovyan
-              subPath: "{username}"
+              subPath: "{escaped_username}"
             # Mounted without readonly attribute here,
             # so we can chown it appropriately
             - name: home
diff --git a/config/clusters/nasa-esdis/common.values.yaml b/config/clusters/nasa-esdis/common.values.yaml
index 31befefbc..09fb4c71c 100644
--- a/config/clusters/nasa-esdis/common.values.yaml
+++ b/config/clusters/nasa-esdis/common.values.yaml
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ jupyterhub:
               volumeMounts:
                 - name: home
                   mountPath: /home/jovyan
-                  subPath: "{username}"
+                  subPath: "{escaped_username}"
                 # mounted without readonly attribute here,
                 # so we can chown it appropriately
                 - name: home
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ jupyterhub:
               volumeMounts:
                 - name: home
                   mountPath: /home/jovyan
-                  subPath: "{username}"
+                  subPath: "{escaped_username}"
               securityContext:
                 runAsUser: 1000
                 runAsGroup: 1000
diff --git a/config/clusters/nasa-esdis/staging.values.yaml b/config/clusters/nasa-esdis/staging.values.yaml
index c469ab09c..e6781c115 100644
--- a/config/clusters/nasa-esdis/staging.values.yaml
+++ b/config/clusters/nasa-esdis/staging.values.yaml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ jupyterhub:
                       volumeMounts:
                         - name: home
                           mountPath: /home/jovyan
-                          subPath: "{username}"
+                          subPath: "{escaped_username}"
                         # mounted without readonly attribute here,
                         # so we can chown it appropriately
                         - name: home
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ jupyterhub:
                       volumeMounts:
                         - name: home
                           mountPath: /home/jovyan
-                          subPath: "{username}"
+                          subPath: "{escaped_username}"
                       securityContext:
                         runAsUser: 1000
                         runAsGroup: 1000
diff --git a/config/clusters/nasa-ghg/common.values.yaml b/config/clusters/nasa-ghg/common.values.yaml
index d9257b7cd..e3d77d0c7 100644
--- a/config/clusters/nasa-ghg/common.values.yaml
+++ b/config/clusters/nasa-ghg/common.values.yaml
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ basehub:
                 volumeMounts:
                   - name: home
                     mountPath: /home/jovyan
-                    subPath: "{username}"
+                    subPath: "{escaped_username}"
                   # mounted without readonly attribute here,
                   # so we can chown it appropriately
                   - name: home
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ basehub:
                 volumeMounts:
                   - name: home
                     mountPath: /home/jovyan
-                    subPath: "{username}"
+                    subPath: "{escaped_username}"
                 securityContext:
                   runAsUser: 1000
                   runAsGroup: 1000
diff --git a/config/clusters/nasa-ghg/staging.values.yaml b/config/clusters/nasa-ghg/staging.values.yaml
index 7413737e8..c62fd393c 100644
--- a/config/clusters/nasa-ghg/staging.values.yaml
+++ b/config/clusters/nasa-ghg/staging.values.yaml
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ basehub:
                         volumeMounts:
                           - name: home
                             mountPath: /home/jovyan
-                            subPath: "{username}"
+                            subPath: "{escaped_username}"
                           # mounted without readonly attribute here,
                           # so we can chown it appropriately
                           - name: home
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ basehub:
                         volumeMounts:
                           - name: home
                             mountPath: /home/jovyan
-                            subPath: "{username}"
+                            subPath: "{escaped_username}"
                         securityContext:
                           runAsUser: 1000
                           runAsGroup: 1000
diff --git a/config/clusters/nasa-veda/common.values.yaml b/config/clusters/nasa-veda/common.values.yaml
index 8a68a28f6..e008086ef 100644
--- a/config/clusters/nasa-veda/common.values.yaml
+++ b/config/clusters/nasa-veda/common.values.yaml
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ basehub:
           volumeMounts:
             - name: home
               mountPath: /home/jovyan
-              subPath: "{username}"
+              subPath: "{escaped_username}"
             # Mounted without readonly attribute here,
             # so we can chown it appropriately
             - name: home
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ basehub:
                         volumeMounts:
                           - name: home
                             mountPath: /home/jovyan
-                            subPath: "{username}"
+                            subPath: "{escaped_username}"
                         securityContext:
                           runAsUser: 1000
                           runAsGroup: 1000
diff --git a/config/clusters/nasa-veda/staging.values.yaml b/config/clusters/nasa-veda/staging.values.yaml
index 308d4aa0c..18b296500 100644
--- a/config/clusters/nasa-veda/staging.values.yaml
+++ b/config/clusters/nasa-veda/staging.values.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ basehub:
           volumeMounts:
             - name: home
               mountPath: /home/jovyan
-              subPath: "{username}"
+              subPath: "{escaped_username}"
             # Mounted without readonly attribute here,
             # so we can chown it appropriately
             - name: home
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ basehub:
                         volumeMounts:
                           - name: home
                             mountPath: /home/jovyan
-                            subPath: "{username}"
+                            subPath: "{escaped_username}"
                         securityContext:
                           runAsUser: 1000
                           runAsGroup: 1000
diff --git a/config/clusters/pchub/common.values.yaml b/config/clusters/pchub/common.values.yaml
index 6637b1534..219634753 100644
--- a/config/clusters/pchub/common.values.yaml
+++ b/config/clusters/pchub/common.values.yaml
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ basehub:
           volumeMounts:
             - name: home
               mountPath: /home/jovyan
-              subPath: "{username}"
+              subPath: "{escaped_username}"
             # Mounted without readonly attribute here,
             # so we can chown it appropriately
             - name: home
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ basehub:
           volumeMounts:
             - name: home
               mountPath: /home/jovyan
-              subPath: "{username}"
+              subPath: "{escaped_username}"
           securityContext:
             runAsUser: 1000
             runAsGroup: 1000
diff --git a/docs/howto/features/per-user-db.md b/docs/howto/features/per-user-db.md
index c4c25b85d..54ea5466c 100644
--- a/docs/howto/features/per-user-db.md
+++ b/docs/howto/features/per-user-db.md
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ jupyterhub:
         volumeMounts:
           - name: home
             mountPath: /home/jovyan
-            subPath: "{username}"
+            subPath: "{escaped_username}"
           # Mounted without readonly attribute here,
           # so we can chown it appropriately
           - name: home
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ jupyterhub:
           # that load data into the db from disk work
           - name: home
             mountPath: /home/jovyan
-            subPath: "{username}"
+            subPath: "{escaped_username}"
           - name: postgres-db
             mountPath: /var/lib/postgresql/data
             # postgres recommends against mounting a volume directly here
diff --git a/docs/topic/infrastructure/storage-layer.md b/docs/topic/infrastructure/storage-layer.md
index 55a74490f..1628ff4e6 100644
--- a/docs/topic/infrastructure/storage-layer.md
+++ b/docs/topic/infrastructure/storage-layer.md
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ jupyterhub:
         volumeMounts:
           - name: home
             mountPath: /home/jovyan
-            subPath: "{username}"
+            subPath: "{escaped_username}"
           # Mounted without readonly attribute here,
           # so we can chown it appropriately
           - name: home
diff --git a/helm-charts/basehub/values.yaml b/helm-charts/basehub/values.yaml
index 504d41622..d60fce386 100644
--- a/helm-charts/basehub/values.yaml
+++ b/helm-charts/basehub/values.yaml
@@ -552,7 +552,7 @@ jupyterhub:
         volumeMounts:
           - name: home
             mountPath: /home/jovyan
-            subPath: "{username}"
+            subPath: "{escaped_username}"
           # Mounted without readonly attribute here,
           # so we can chown it appropriately
           - name: home
@@ -772,7 +772,7 @@ jupyterhub:
       type: static
       static:
         pvcName: home-nfs
-        subPath: "{username}"
+        subPath: "{escaped_username}"
       extraVolumes:
         - name: dev-shm
           emptyDir:
@@ -797,7 +797,7 @@ jupyterhub:
         # problem by openscapes)
         - name: home
           mountPath: /home/rstudio
-          subPath: "{username}"
+          subPath: "{escaped_username}"
         - name: home
           mountPath: /home/rstudio/shared
           subPath: _shared