diff --git a/cli/command/container/kill.go b/cli/command/container/kill.go
index feedbc01114b..f1e8d8820eed 100644
--- a/cli/command/container/kill.go
+++ b/cli/command/container/kill.go
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ func NewKillCommand(dockerCli command.Cli) *cobra.Command {
 		Short: "Kill one or more running containers",
 		Args:  cli.RequiresMinArgs(1),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			if err := cli.CheckContainerNames(args...); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
 			opts.containers = args
 			return runKill(dockerCli, &opts)
 		},
diff --git a/cli/command/container/rm.go b/cli/command/container/rm.go
index 2dcd4b6ace94..3e738dbcf9bd 100644
--- a/cli/command/container/rm.go
+++ b/cli/command/container/rm.go
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ func NewRmCommand(dockerCli command.Cli) *cobra.Command {
 		Short: "Remove one or more containers",
 		Args:  cli.RequiresMinArgs(1),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			if err := cli.CheckContainerNames(args...); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
 			opts.containers = args
 			return runRm(dockerCli, &opts)
 		},
diff --git a/cli/command/container/stop.go b/cli/command/container/stop.go
index e299175436fa..7fd4f11dab11 100644
--- a/cli/command/container/stop.go
+++ b/cli/command/container/stop.go
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ func NewStopCommand(dockerCli command.Cli) *cobra.Command {
 		Short: "Stop one or more running containers",
 		Args:  cli.RequiresMinArgs(1),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			if err := cli.CheckContainerNames(args...); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
 			opts.containers = args
 			opts.timeChanged = cmd.Flags().Changed("time")
 			return runStop(dockerCli, &opts)
diff --git a/cli/names.go b/cli/names.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..aca492093c38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/names.go
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package cli
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+var (
+	validContainerNamePattern = regexp.MustCompile("^[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+$")
+)
+
+// CheckContainerName check container's name is valid or not
+func CheckContainerName(name string) error {
+	if !validContainerNamePattern.MatchString(strings.TrimPrefix(name, "/")) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("container name %s is invalid", name)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// CheckContainerNames check containers' name is valid or not
+func CheckContainerNames(names ...string) error {
+	for _, name := range names {
+		if err := CheckContainerName(name); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}