diff --git a/gns3server/modules/virtualbox/virtualbox_vm.py b/gns3server/modules/virtualbox/virtualbox_vm.py
index f369287b..e7c36600 100644
--- a/gns3server/modules/virtualbox/virtualbox_vm.py
+++ b/gns3server/modules/virtualbox/virtualbox_vm.py
@@ -583,8 +583,7 @@ class VirtualBoxVM(BaseVM):
         :returns: pipe path (string)
         """
 
-        p = re.compile('\s+', re.UNICODE)
-        pipe_name = p.sub("_", self._vmname)
+        pipe_name = self._vmname.encode("hex", "strict")
         if sys.platform.startswith("win"):
             pipe_name = r"\\.\pipe\VBOX\{}".format(pipe_name)
         else: