diff --git a/src/routes/projects/list.js b/src/routes/projects/list.js
index 8ca1279a..97402f40 100755
--- a/src/routes/projects/list.js
+++ b/src/routes/projects/list.js
@@ -268,6 +268,22 @@ const setFilter = (value, keyword, fieldName) => {
   return buildEsQueryWithFilter(value, keyword, MATCH_TYPE_EXACT_PHRASE, fieldName);
 };
 
+/**
+  * ES need to skip special chars else it is considered as RegEx
+  *
+  * @param  {String}     query          query being searched for
+  * @return {String}                    result after parsing
+  */
+ function escapeElasticsearchQuery(query) {
+   const chars = ['\\', '+', '-', '&&', '||', '!', '(', ')', '{', '}', '[', ']',
+     '^', '"', '~', '*', '?', ':', '/', '<', '>'];
+   let result = query;
+   _.forEach(chars, (item) => {
+     result = result.replace(item, `\\${item}`);
+   });
+   return result;
+ }
+
 /**
  * Parse the ES search criteria and prepare search request body
  *
@@ -426,7 +442,7 @@ const parseElasticSearchCriteria = (criteria, fields, order) => {
 
     if (!keyword) {
       // Not a specific field search nor an exact phrase search, do a wildcard match
-      keyword = criteria.filters.keyword;
+      keyword = escapeElasticsearchQuery(keywordCriterion);
       matchType = MATCH_TYPE_WILDCARD;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/routes/projects/list.spec.js b/src/routes/projects/list.spec.js
index 9ebb3e13..373f4dbb 100644
--- a/src/routes/projects/list.spec.js
+++ b/src/routes/projects/list.spec.js
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ const data = [
     type: 'generic',
     billingAccountId: 1,
     name: 'test1',
-    description: 'test project1',
+    description: 'test project1 abc/d',
     status: 'active',
     details: {
       utm: {
@@ -1065,7 +1065,7 @@ describe('LIST Project', () => {
             resJson.should.have.lengthOf(1);
             resJson[0].should.have.property('description');
             resJson[0].should.not.have.property('cancelReason');
-            resJson[0].description.should.be.eq('test project1');
+            resJson[0].description.should.be.eq('test project1 abc/d');
             done();
           }
         });
@@ -1244,6 +1244,46 @@ describe('LIST Project', () => {
           }
         });
       });
+
+      it('should find a project by quoted keyword with a special symbol in the name', (done) => {
+        request(server)
+          .get('/v5/projects/?keyword="abc/d"')
+          .set({
+            Authorization: `Bearer ${testUtil.jwts.admin}`,
+          })
+          .expect('Content-Type', /json/)
+          .expect(200)
+          .end((err, res) => {
+            if (err) {
+              done(err);
+            } else {
+              const resJson = res.body;
+              should.exist(resJson);
+              resJson.should.have.lengthOf(1);
+              done();
+            }
+          });
+      });
+
+      it('should find a project by keyword with a special symbol in the name', (done) => {
+        request(server)
+          .get('/v5/projects/?keyword=abc/d')
+          .set({
+            Authorization: `Bearer ${testUtil.jwts.admin}`,
+          })
+          .expect('Content-Type', /json/)
+          .expect(200)
+          .end((err, res) => {
+            if (err) {
+              done(err);
+            } else {
+              const resJson = res.body;
+              should.exist(resJson);
+              resJson.should.have.lengthOf(1);
+              done();
+            }
+          });
+      });
     });
   });
 });