diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index 10bd513..dfa300d 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ var jsonist = require('jsonist')
 var template = require('lodash').template
 var once = require('lodash').once
 var remove_meta = require('ndjson-to-elasticsearch/lib/remove-meta')
+var querystring = require("querystring")
 
 module.exports = function (config, log, since) {
   var _retry = async.retry.bind(null, config.retry)
@@ -59,7 +60,7 @@ module.exports = function (config, log, since) {
     if (change.id.indexOf('_design') === 0) return endTask()
 
     var doc = change.doc
-    var es_doc_url = config.elasticsearch + '/' + change.id
+    var es_doc_url = config.elasticsearch + '/' + querystring.escape(change.id)
     if (config.key) es_doc_url = config.elasticsearch + '/' + doc[config.key]
     if (config.urlTemplate) es_doc_url = run_compile(es_doc_url, doc, log)
     if (doc._deleted) return handle_delete(config, es_doc_url, change, log, onDone, endTask)