diff --git a/beetsplug/smartplaylist.py b/beetsplug/smartplaylist.py
index 73c3f59eb..bde64ca3d 100644
--- a/beetsplug/smartplaylist.py
+++ b/beetsplug/smartplaylist.py
@@ -173,7 +173,8 @@ class SmartPlaylistPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
 
         for playlist in self._matched_playlists:
             name, (query, q_sort), (album_query, a_q_sort) = playlist
-            self._log.debug(u"Creating playlist {0}", name)
+            sanitized_name = sanitize_path(name, lib.replacements)
+            self._log.debug(u"Creating playlist {0}", sanitized_name)
             items = []
 
             if query:
@@ -186,7 +187,7 @@ class SmartPlaylistPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
             # As we allow tags in the m3u names, we'll need to iterate through
             # the items and generate the correct m3u file names.
             for item in items:
-                m3u_name = sanitize_path(item.evaluate_template(name, True), lib.replacements)
+                m3u_name = item.evaluate_template(sanitized_name, True)
                 if m3u_name not in m3us:
                     m3us[m3u_name] = []
                 item_path = item.path
diff --git a/test/test_smartplaylist.py b/test/test_smartplaylist.py
index 071ff390b..4425aa172 100644
--- a/test/test_smartplaylist.py
+++ b/test/test_smartplaylist.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ from beetsplug.smartplaylist import SmartPlaylistPlugin
 from beets.library import Item, Album, parse_query_string
 from beets.dbcore import OrQuery
 from beets.dbcore.query import NullSort, MultipleSort, FixedFieldSort
-from beets.util import syspath, bytestring_path, py3_path
+from beets.util import syspath, bytestring_path, py3_path, CHAR_REPLACE
 from beets.ui import UserError
 from beets import config
 
@@ -151,12 +151,15 @@ class SmartPlaylistTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
         i = Mock(path=b'/tagada.mp3')
         i.evaluate_template.side_effect = lambda x, _: x
-        q = Mock()
-        a_q = Mock()
+        
         lib = Mock()
+        lib.replacements = CHAR_REPLACE
         lib.items.return_value = [i]
         lib.albums.return_value = []
-        pl = b'my_playlist.m3u', (q, None), (a_q, None)
+
+        q = Mock()
+        a_q = Mock()
+        pl = b'.my:<playlist>.m3u', (q, None), (a_q, None)
         spl._matched_playlists = [pl]
 
         dir = bytestring_path(mkdtemp())
@@ -171,15 +174,14 @@ class SmartPlaylistTest(unittest.TestCase):
         lib.items.assert_called_once_with(q, None)
         lib.albums.assert_called_once_with(a_q, None)
 
-        m3u_filepath = path.join(dir, pl[0])
+        m3u_filepath = path.join(dir, b'_my__playlist_.m3u')
         self.assertTrue(path.exists(m3u_filepath))
         with open(syspath(m3u_filepath), 'rb') as f:
             content = f.read()
         rmtree(dir)
 
         self.assertEqual(content, b'/tagada.mp3\n')
-
-
+        
 class SmartPlaylistCLITest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
     def setUp(self):
         self.setup_beets()