diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index eef34f0c0..635ecdde6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ Release 0.11.0 (unreleased)
 * Support multiple licenses per project (#788)
 * Add evidence to sbom report (#788)
 * Let action work outside of dfetch repo (#816)
+* Handle SVN tags with special characters (#811)
 
 Release 0.10.0 (released 2025-03-12)
 ====================================
diff --git a/dfetch/project/svn.py b/dfetch/project/svn.py
index be3de3c3e..d81cfb5d9 100644
--- a/dfetch/project/svn.py
+++ b/dfetch/project/svn.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import os
 import pathlib
 import re
+import urllib.parse
 from typing import Dict, List, NamedTuple, Optional, Tuple
 
 from dfetch.log import get_logger
@@ -204,6 +205,8 @@ def _determine_what_to_fetch(self, version: Version) -> Tuple[str, str, str]:
                 else self.DEFAULT_BRANCH
             )
 
+        branch_path = urllib.parse.quote(branch_path)
+
         revision = version.revision or self._get_revision(branch_path)
 
         if not revision.isdigit():
diff --git a/features/fetch-svn-repo.feature b/features/fetch-svn-repo.feature
index 9703fa670..f547b56d7 100644
--- a/features/fetch-svn-repo.feature
+++ b/features/fetch-svn-repo.feature
@@ -74,3 +74,32 @@ Feature: Fetching dependencies from a svn repository
                     SomeFile.txt
                 dfetch.yaml
             """
+
+    Scenario: SVN repository with a tags can be fetched
+        Given the manifest 'dfetch.yaml' in MyProject
+            """
+            manifest:
+                version: 0.0
+                projects:
+                    - name: SomeProject
+                      url: some-remote-server/SomeProject
+                      tag: 'v1.2.3'
+
+                    - name: SomeOtherProject
+                      url: some-remote-server/SomeOtherProject
+                      tag: 'v 1&;{6}'
+            """
+        And a svn-server "SomeProject" with the tag "v1.2.3"
+        And a svn-server "SomeOtherProject" with the tag "v 1&;{6}"
+        When I run "dfetch update"
+        Then 'MyProject' looks like:
+            """
+            MyProject/
+                SomeOtherProject/
+                    .dfetch_data.yaml
+                    README.md
+                SomeProject/
+                    .dfetch_data.yaml
+                    README.md
+                dfetch.yaml
+            """
diff --git a/features/steps/svn_steps.py b/features/steps/svn_steps.py
index c2c5bb7af..e529a7218 100644
--- a/features/steps/svn_steps.py
+++ b/features/steps/svn_steps.py
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ def create_svn_server_and_repo(context, name="svn-server"):
     repo_path = name
 
     pathlib.Path(server_path).mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
-    subprocess.call(["svnadmin", "create", "--fs-type", "fsfs", server_path])
+    subprocess.check_call(["svnadmin", "create", "--fs-type", "fsfs", server_path])
 
     current_path = "/".join(os.getcwd().split(os.path.sep) + [server_path])
-    subprocess.call(["svn", "checkout", f"file:///{current_path}", repo_path])
+    subprocess.check_call(["svn", "checkout", f"file:///{current_path}", repo_path])
 
     return repo_path
 
@@ -36,12 +36,18 @@ def create_stdlayout():
 
 
 def add_and_commit(msg):
-    subprocess.call(["svn", "add", "--force", "."])
-    subprocess.call(["svn", "ci", "-m", f'"{msg}"'])
+    subprocess.check_call(["svn", "add", "--force", "."])
+    subprocess.check_call(["svn", "ci", "-m", f'"{msg}"'])
 
 
 def commit_all(msg):
-    subprocess.call(["svn", "commit", "--depth", "empty", ".", "-m", f'"{msg}"'])
+    subprocess.check_call(["svn", "commit", "--depth", "empty", ".", "-m", f'"{msg}"'])
+
+
+def create_tag(tag_name):
+    """Create a tag from trunk."""
+    subprocess.check_call(["svn", "copy", "trunk", f"tags/{tag_name}"])
+    subprocess.check_call(["svn", "ci", "-m", f'"Created tag {tag_name}"'])
 
 
 def add_externals(externals):
@@ -51,9 +57,10 @@ def add_externals(externals):
             revision = f"@{external['revision']}" if external["revision"] else ""
             external_list.write(f"{external['url']}{revision} {external['path']}\n")
 
-    subprocess.call(["svn", "propset", "svn:externals", "-F", external_list.name, "."])
+    subprocess.check_call(
+        ["svn", "propset", "svn:externals", "-F", external_list.name, "."]
+    )
     commit_all("Added externals")
-    subprocess.call(["svn", "update"])
 
 
 @given("a svn repo with the following externals")
@@ -65,7 +72,8 @@ def step_impl(context):
 
 @given('a svn-server "{name}"')
 @given('a svn-server "{name}" with the files')
-def step_impl(context, name):
+@given('a svn-server "{name}" with the tag "{tag_name}"')
+def step_impl(context, name, tag_name=None):
     repo_path = create_svn_server_and_repo(context, name)
 
     files = context.table or [{"path": "README.md"}]
@@ -76,6 +84,8 @@ def step_impl(context, name):
             for file in files:
                 generate_file(file["path"], "some content")
         add_and_commit("Added files")
+        if tag_name:
+            create_tag(tag_name)
 
 
 @given('a non-standard svn-server "{name}" with the files')