diff --git a/lib/WeBWorK/ContentGenerator/Instructor/FileManager.pm b/lib/WeBWorK/ContentGenerator/Instructor/FileManager.pm
index 350e1f7211..61e48458d6 100644
--- a/lib/WeBWorK/ContentGenerator/Instructor/FileManager.pm
+++ b/lib/WeBWorK/ContentGenerator/Instructor/FileManager.pm
@@ -988,7 +988,7 @@ sub checkPWD ($c, $pwd, $renameError = 0) {
 	my $original = $pwd;
 	$pwd =~ s!(^|/)\.!$1_!g;                  # don't enter hidden directories
 	$pwd =~ s!^/!!;                           # remove leading /
-	$pwd =~ s![^-_./A-Z0-9~, ]!_!gi;          # no illegal characters
+	$pwd =~ s![^-_./A-Z0-9~,() ]!_!gi;        # no illegal characters
 	return if $renameError && $original ne $pwd;
 
 	$pwd = '.' if $pwd eq '';
diff --git a/lib/WeBWorK/ContentGenerator/Instructor/PGProblemEditor.pm b/lib/WeBWorK/ContentGenerator/Instructor/PGProblemEditor.pm
index 6d207da945..504137b020 100644
--- a/lib/WeBWorK/ContentGenerator/Instructor/PGProblemEditor.pm
+++ b/lib/WeBWorK/ContentGenerator/Instructor/PGProblemEditor.pm
@@ -620,7 +620,7 @@ sub getBackupTimes ($c) {
 	my $backupBasePath = $c->{backupBasePath};
 	my @files          = glob(qq("$backupBasePath*"));
 	return unless @files;
-	return reverse(map { $_ =~ s/$backupBasePath//r } @files);
+	return reverse(map { $_ =~ s/\Q$backupBasePath\E//r } @files);
 }
 
 sub backupFile ($c, $outputFilePath) {