diff --git a/plugins/outputs/wavefront/README.md b/plugins/outputs/wavefront/README.md
index bc2156b13..71a760900 100644
--- a/plugins/outputs/wavefront/README.md
+++ b/plugins/outputs/wavefront/README.md
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ This plugin writes to a [Wavefront](https://www.wavefront.com) proxy, in Wavefro
   ## When true will convert all _ (underscore) characters in final metric name. default is true
   #convert_paths = true
 
+  ## Use Strict rules to sanitize metric and tag names from invalid characters
+  ## When enabled forward slash (/) and comma (,) will be accpeted
+  #use_strict = false
+  
   ## Use Regex to sanitize metric and tag names from invalid characters
   ## Regex is more thorough, but significantly slower. default is false
   #use_regex = false
diff --git a/plugins/outputs/wavefront/wavefront.go b/plugins/outputs/wavefront/wavefront.go
index 257c5512e..65666d627 100644
--- a/plugins/outputs/wavefront/wavefront.go
+++ b/plugins/outputs/wavefront/wavefront.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ type Wavefront struct {
 	ConvertPaths    bool
 	ConvertBool     bool
 	UseRegex        bool
+	UseStrict       bool
 	SourceOverride  []string
 	StringToNumber  map[string][]map[string]float64
 
@@ -37,6 +38,14 @@ var sanitizedChars = strings.NewReplacer(
 	"=", "-",
 )
 
+// catch many of the invalid chars that could appear in a metric or tag name
+var strictSanitizedChars = strings.NewReplacer(
+	"!", "-", "@", "-", "#", "-", "$", "-", "%", "-", "^", "-", "&", "-",
+	"*", "-", "(", "-", ")", "-", "+", "-", "`", "-", "'", "-", "\"", "-",
+	"[", "-", "]", "-", "{", "-", "}", "-", ":", "-", ";", "-", "<", "-",
+	">", "-", "?", "-", "\\", "-", "|", "-", " ", "-", "=", "-",
+)
+
 // instead of Replacer which may miss some special characters we can use a regex pattern, but this is significantly slower than Replacer
 var sanitizedRegex = regexp.MustCompile("[^a-zA-Z\\d_.-]")
 
@@ -71,6 +80,10 @@ var sampleConfig = `
   ## When true will convert all _ (underscore) characters in final metric name. default is true
   #convert_paths = true
 
+  ## Use Strict rules to sanitize metric and tag names from invalid characters
+  ## When enabled forward slash (/) and comma (,) will be accpeted
+  #use_strict = false
+
   ## Use Regex to sanitize metric and tag names from invalid characters
   ## Regex is more thorough, but significantly slower. default is false
   #use_regex = false
@@ -163,6 +176,8 @@ func buildMetrics(m telegraf.Metric, w *Wavefront) []*MetricPoint {
 
 		if w.UseRegex {
 			name = sanitizedRegex.ReplaceAllLiteralString(name, "-")
+		} else if w.UseStrict {
+			name = strictSanitizedChars.Replace(name)
 		} else {
 			name = sanitizedChars.Replace(name)
 		}
@@ -238,6 +253,8 @@ func buildTags(mTags map[string]string, w *Wavefront) (string, map[string]string
 		var key string
 		if w.UseRegex {
 			key = sanitizedRegex.ReplaceAllLiteralString(k, "-")
+		} else if w.UseStrict {
+			key = strictSanitizedChars.Replace(k)
 		} else {
 			key = sanitizedChars.Replace(k)
 		}
diff --git a/plugins/outputs/wavefront/wavefront_test.go b/plugins/outputs/wavefront/wavefront_test.go
index 1fda6c7ae..776c3698f 100644
--- a/plugins/outputs/wavefront/wavefront_test.go
+++ b/plugins/outputs/wavefront/wavefront_test.go
@@ -50,6 +50,13 @@ func TestBuildMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 				{Metric: w.Prefix + "testing.metric2", Value: 1, Timestamp: timestamp, Tags: map[string]string{"tag1": "value1"}},
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			testutil.TestMetric(float64(1), "testing_just/another,metric:float", "metric2"),
+			[]MetricPoint{
+				{Metric: w.Prefix + "testing.just-another-metric-float", Value: 1, Timestamp: timestamp, Tags: map[string]string{"tag1": "value1"}},
+				{Metric: w.Prefix + "testing.metric2", Value: 1, Timestamp: timestamp, Tags: map[string]string{"tag1": "value1"}},
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			testMetric1,
 			[]MetricPoint{{Metric: w.Prefix + "test.simple.metric", Value: 123, Timestamp: timestamp, Source: "testHost", Tags: map[string]string{"tag1": "value1"}}},
@@ -67,6 +74,46 @@ func TestBuildMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 
 }
 
+func TestBuildMetricsStrict(t *testing.T) {
+	w := defaultWavefront()
+	w.Prefix = "testthis."
+	w.UseStrict = true
+
+	pathReplacer = strings.NewReplacer("_", w.MetricSeparator)
+
+	var timestamp int64 = 1257894000
+
+	var metricTests = []struct {
+		metric       telegraf.Metric
+		metricPoints []MetricPoint
+	}{
+		{
+			testutil.TestMetric(float64(1), "testing_just*a%metric:float", "metric2"),
+			[]MetricPoint{
+				{Metric: w.Prefix + "testing.just-a-metric-float", Value: 1, Timestamp: timestamp, Tags: map[string]string{"tag1": "value1"}},
+				{Metric: w.Prefix + "testing.metric2", Value: 1, Timestamp: timestamp, Tags: map[string]string{"tag1": "value1"}},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			testutil.TestMetric(float64(1), "testing_just/another,metric:float", "metric2"),
+			[]MetricPoint{
+				{Metric: w.Prefix + "testing.just/another,metric-float", Value: 1, Timestamp: timestamp, Tags: map[string]string{"tag/1": "value1", "tag,2": "value2"}},
+				{Metric: w.Prefix + "testing.metric2", Value: 1, Timestamp: timestamp, Tags: map[string]string{"tag/1": "value1", "tag,2": "value2"}},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, mt := range metricTests {
+		ml := buildMetrics(mt.metric, w)
+		for i, line := range ml {
+			if mt.metricPoints[i].Metric != line.Metric || mt.metricPoints[i].Value != line.Value {
+				t.Errorf("\nexpected\t%+v %+v\nreceived\t%+v %+v\n", mt.metricPoints[i].Metric, mt.metricPoints[i].Value, line.Metric, line.Value)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+}
+
 func TestBuildMetricsWithSimpleFields(t *testing.T) {
 	w := defaultWavefront()
 	w.Prefix = "testthis."