diff --git a/pkg/helpers/helpers_labels_test.go b/pkg/helpers/helpers_labels_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2eb634348a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/helpers/helpers_labels_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.
+// Licensed under the MIT License.
+
+package helpers
+
+import (
+	"log"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/Azure/go-autorest/autorest/to"
+)
+
+func TestLabelsToTags(t *testing.T) {
+	checks := []struct {
+		Name string
+		In   map[string]string
+		Out  map[string]*string
+	}{
+		{
+			Name: "normal labels",
+			In: map[string]string{
+				"age":  "null",
+				"type": "null",
+			},
+			Out: map[string]*string{
+				"age":  to.StringPtr("null"),
+				"type": to.StringPtr("null"),
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			Name: "backslash labels",
+			In: map[string]string{
+				"age/date":   "null",
+				"type\\kind": "null",
+				"fun/\\zone": "null",
+			},
+			Out: map[string]*string{
+				"age.date":  to.StringPtr("null"),
+				"type.kind": to.StringPtr("null"),
+				"fun..zone": to.StringPtr("null"),
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			Name: "greater than less than labels",
+			In: map[string]string{
+				"age>date":  "null",
+				"type<kind": "null",
+				"fun<>zone": "null",
+			},
+			Out: map[string]*string{
+				"age.date":  to.StringPtr("null"),
+				"type.kind": to.StringPtr("null"),
+				"fun..zone": to.StringPtr("null"),
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			Name: "percent labels",
+			In: map[string]string{
+				"age%date": "null",
+				"%":        "null",
+			},
+			Out: map[string]*string{
+				"age.date": to.StringPtr("null"),
+				".":        to.StringPtr("null"),
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	for _, check := range checks {
+		log.Println("Checking", check.Name)
+		translated := LabelsToTags(check.In)
+		for k, v := range translated {
+			value := v
+			if check.Out[k] == nil {
+				t.Errorf("Expected 'null'\nGot nil\n%q", k)
+			}
+			if check.Out[k] != nil && *value != *check.Out[k] {
+				t.Errorf("Expected %s\nGot %s", *check.Out[k], *value)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/helpers/labels.go b/pkg/helpers/labels.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7647a895242
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/helpers/labels.go
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.
+// Licensed under the MIT License.
+
+package helpers
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// LabelsToTags converts labels from a kube resource to the data structure expected by Azure for tags
+// this function will translate characters that are not allows by Azure to "."s
+func LabelsToTags(in map[string]string) map[string]*string {
+	out := map[string]*string{}
+	for k, v := range in {
+		newK := k
+		value := v
+		if strings.ContainsAny(k, "<>%/?\\") {
+			newK = ReplaceAny(k, []string{"<", ">", "%", "/", "\\\\", "?"})
+		}
+		out[newK] = &value
+	}
+
+	return out
+}
diff --git a/pkg/helpers/stringhelper.go b/pkg/helpers/stringhelper.go
index 5613f45cb8f..92e8e10105e 100644
--- a/pkg/helpers/stringhelper.go
+++ b/pkg/helpers/stringhelper.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"math/rand"
+	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 	"unicode"
@@ -146,3 +147,10 @@ func Hash256(i interface{}) string {
 	h.Write(inBytes)
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%x", h.Sum(nil))
 }
+
+// ReplaceAny replaces any instance of the strings passes in the chars slice
+// replacing a backslash is problematic so it will require 4 eg []string{"\\\\"}
+func ReplaceAny(s string, chars []string) string {
+	reg := regexp.MustCompile(fmt.Sprintf(`(%s)`, strings.Join(chars, "|")))
+	return reg.ReplaceAllString(s, ".")
+}
diff --git a/pkg/resourcemanager/azuresql/azuresqldb/azuresqldb_reconcile.go b/pkg/resourcemanager/azuresql/azuresqldb/azuresqldb_reconcile.go
index fae66455458..70276ecb232 100644
--- a/pkg/resourcemanager/azuresql/azuresqldb/azuresqldb_reconcile.go
+++ b/pkg/resourcemanager/azuresql/azuresqldb/azuresqldb_reconcile.go
@@ -42,11 +42,7 @@ func (db *AzureSqlDbManager) Ensure(ctx context.Context, obj runtime.Object, opt
 	dbEdition := instance.Spec.Edition
 
 	// convert kube labels to expected tag format
-	labels := map[string]*string{}
-	for k, v := range instance.GetLabels() {
-		value := v
-		labels[k] = &value
-	}
+	labels := helpers.LabelsToTags(instance.GetLabels())
 
 	azureSQLDatabaseProperties := azuresqlshared.SQLDatabaseProperties{
 		DatabaseName: dbName,
diff --git a/pkg/resourcemanager/azuresql/azuresqlserver/azuresqlserver_reconcile.go b/pkg/resourcemanager/azuresql/azuresqlserver/azuresqlserver_reconcile.go
index 0cfd41c2c66..f4416ddd55d 100644
--- a/pkg/resourcemanager/azuresql/azuresqlserver/azuresqlserver_reconcile.go
+++ b/pkg/resourcemanager/azuresql/azuresqlserver/azuresqlserver_reconcile.go
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ func (s *AzureSqlServerManager) Ensure(ctx context.Context, obj runtime.Object,
 		return false, err
 	}
 
+	// convert kube labels to expected tag format
+	tags := helpers.LabelsToTags(instance.GetLabels())
+
 	// Check to see if secret already exists for admin username/password
 	// create or update the secret
 	key := types.NamespacedName{Name: instance.Name, Namespace: instance.Namespace}
@@ -136,7 +139,7 @@ func (s *AzureSqlServerManager) Ensure(ctx context.Context, obj runtime.Object,
 
 	// create the sql server
 	instance.Status.Provisioning = true
-	if _, err := s.CreateOrUpdateSQLServer(ctx, instance.Spec.ResourceGroup, instance.Spec.Location, instance.Name, labels, azureSQLServerProperties, false); err != nil {
+	if _, err := s.CreateOrUpdateSQLServer(ctx, instance.Spec.ResourceGroup, instance.Spec.Location, instance.Name, tags, azureSQLServerProperties, false); err != nil {
 
 		instance.Status.Message = err.Error()