diff --git a/lib/couchrest/core/database.rb b/lib/couchrest/core/database.rb
index 7f4fd41..060c124 100644
--- a/lib/couchrest/core/database.rb
+++ b/lib/couchrest/core/database.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ module CouchRest
       @name = name
       @server = server
       @host = server.uri
-      @uri = @root = "#{host}/#{name}"
+      @uri = @root = "#{host}/#{name.gsub('/','%2F')}"
       @streamer = Streamer.new(self)
       @bulk_save_cache = []
       @bulk_save_cache_limit = 500  # must be smaller than the uuid count
diff --git a/spec/couchrest/core/database_spec.rb b/spec/couchrest/core/database_spec.rb
index d0a1eb8..f5565b0 100644
--- a/spec/couchrest/core/database_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/couchrest/core/database_spec.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,15 @@ describe CouchRest::Database do
     @db.delete! rescue nil
     @db = @cr.create_db(TESTDB) rescue nil
   end
-    
+
+  describe "database name including slash" do
+    it "should escape the name in the URI" do
+      db = @cr.database("foo/bar")
+      db.name.should == "foo/bar"
+      db.uri.should == "#{COUCHHOST}/foo%2Fbar"
+    end
+  end
+
   describe "map query with _temp_view in Javascript" do
     before(:each) do
       @db.bulk_save([