diff --git a/public/script/app.js b/public/script/app.js
index 3e3406e..fff072b 100644
--- a/public/script/app.js
+++ b/public/script/app.js
@@ -1233,10 +1233,7 @@ angular
       function anonymize() {
         $scope.anonymize.terms.$setValidity("regex", true);
         // check if string has regex characters
-        if (
-          $scope.terms &&
-          $scope.terms.match(/[-[\]{}()*+?.,\\^$|#\s]/g)
-        ) {
+        if ($scope.terms && $scope.terms.match(/[-[\]{}()*+?.,\\^$|#\s]/g)) {
           $scope.anonymize.terms.$setValidity("regex", false);
         }
         const urlRegex =
@@ -1279,7 +1276,13 @@ angular
         );
         const terms = $scope.terms.split("\n");
         for (let i = 0; i < terms.length; i++) {
-          const term = terms[i];
+          let term = terms[i];
+          try {
+            new RegExp(term, "gi");
+          } catch {
+            // escape regex characters
+            term = term.replace(/[-[\]{}()*+?.,\\^$|#\s]/g, "\\$&");
+          }
           if (term.trim() == "") {
             continue;
           }
diff --git a/src/anonymize-utils.ts b/src/anonymize-utils.ts
index fc70e5d..ddd627e 100644
--- a/src/anonymize-utils.ts
+++ b/src/anonymize-utils.ts
@@ -133,10 +133,16 @@ export function anonymizeContent(
 
   const terms = repository.options.terms || [];
   for (let i = 0; i < terms.length; i++) {
-    const term = terms[i];
+    let term = terms[i];
     if (term.trim() == "") {
       continue;
     }
+    try {
+      new RegExp(term, "gi");
+    } catch {
+      // escape regex characters
+      term = term.replace(/[-[\]{}()*+?.,\\^$|#\s]/g, "\\$&");
+    }
     // remove whole url if it contains the term
     content = content.replace(urlRegex, (match) => {
       if (new RegExp(`\\b${term}\\b`, "gi").test(match))
@@ -155,10 +161,16 @@ export function anonymizeContent(
 
 export function anonymizePath(path: string, terms: string[]) {
   for (let i = 0; i < terms.length; i++) {
-    const term = terms[i];
+    let term = terms[i];
     if (term.trim() == "") {
       continue;
     }
+    try {
+      new RegExp(term, "gi");
+    } catch {
+      // escape regex characters
+      term = term.replace(/[-[\]{}()*+?.,\\^$|#\s]/g, "\\$&");
+    }
     path = path.replace(
       new RegExp(term, "gi"),
       config.ANONYMIZATION_MASK + "-" + (i + 1)