diff --git a/qom/object_interfaces.c b/qom/object_interfaces.c
index 1e9ad6f08a..7661270b98 100644
--- a/qom/object_interfaces.c
+++ b/qom/object_interfaces.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include "qapi/qobject-input-visitor.h"
 #include "qom/object_interfaces.h"
 #include "qemu/help_option.h"
+#include "qemu/id.h"
 #include "qemu/module.h"
 #include "qemu/option.h"
 #include "qapi/opts-visitor.h"
@@ -41,11 +42,19 @@ Object *user_creatable_add_type(const char *type, const char *id,
                                 const QDict *qdict,
                                 Visitor *v, Error **errp)
 {
+    ERRP_GUARD();
     Object *obj;
     ObjectClass *klass;
     const QDictEntry *e;
     Error *local_err = NULL;
 
+    if (id != NULL && !id_wellformed(id)) {
+        error_setg(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE, "id", "an identifier");
+        error_append_hint(errp, "Identifiers consist of letters, digits, "
+                          "'-', '.', '_', starting with a letter.\n");
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
     klass = object_class_by_name(type);
     if (!klass) {
         error_setg(errp, "invalid object type: %s", type);