diff --git a/src/misc_tools.c b/src/misc_tools.c
index 1dae6ea..f3552ad 100644
--- a/src/misc_tools.c
+++ b/src/misc_tools.c
@@ -188,7 +188,8 @@ int qsort_strcasecmp_hlpr(const void *str1, const void *str2)
       - cannot be empty
       - cannot start with a space
       - must not contain a forward slash (for logfile naming purposes)
-      - must not contain contiguous spaces */
+      - must not contain contiguous spaces
+      - must not contain a newline or tab seqeunce */
 int valid_nick(const char *nick)
 {
     if (!nick[0] || nick[0] == ' ')
@@ -197,23 +198,25 @@ int valid_nick(const char *nick)
     int i;
 
     for (i = 0; nick[i]; ++i) {
-        if (nick[i] == ' ' && nick[i + 1] == ' ')
-            return 0;
+        if ((nick[i] == ' ' && nick[i + 1] == ' ')
+            || nick[i] == '/' 
+            || nick[i] == '\n' 
+            || nick[i] == '\t' 
+            || nick[i] == '\r')
 
-        if (nick[i] == '/')
             return 0;
     }
 
     return 1;
 }
 
-/* Converts all newline chars to spaces (use for strings that should be contained to a single line) */
+/* Converts all newline/tab chars to spaces (use for strings that should be contained to a single line) */
 void escape_newline_str(char *str, int len)
 {
     int i;
 
     for (i = 0; i < len; ++i) {
-        if (str[i] == '\n' || str[i] == '\r')
+        if (str[i] == '\n' || str[i] == '\r' || str[i] == '\t')
             str[i] = ' ';
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/misc_tools.h b/src/misc_tools.h
index 77c0353..ff2ce53 100644
--- a/src/misc_tools.h
+++ b/src/misc_tools.h
@@ -87,10 +87,11 @@ int qsort_strcasecmp_hlpr(const void *str1, const void *str2);
       - cannot be empty
       - cannot start with a space
       - must not contain a forward slash (for logfile naming purposes)
-      - must not contain contiguous spaces */
+      - must not contain contiguous spaces
+      - must not contain a newline or tab seqeunce */
 int valid_nick(const char *nick);
 
-/* Converts all newline chars to spaces (use for strings that should be contained to a single line) */
+/* Converts all newline/tab chars to spaces (use for strings that should be contained to a single line) */
 void escape_newline_str(char *str, int len);
 
 /* gets base file name from path or original file name if no path is supplied */