diff --git a/libretro-common/include/net/net_http.h b/libretro-common/include/net/net_http.h
index ccc53c2f93..be03761a77 100644
--- a/libretro-common/include/net/net_http.h
+++ b/libretro-common/include/net/net_http.h
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ uint8_t* net_http_data(struct http_t *state, size_t* len, bool accept_error);
 /* Cleans up all memory. */
 void net_http_delete(struct http_t *state);
 
+void net_http_urlencode_full(char **dest, const char *source);
+
 RETRO_END_DECLS
 
 #endif
diff --git a/libretro-common/net/net_http.c b/libretro-common/net/net_http.c
index b7b23be673..4cbf5785c2 100644
--- a/libretro-common/net/net_http.c
+++ b/libretro-common/net/net_http.c
@@ -74,6 +74,45 @@ struct http_connection_t
    int port;
 };
 
+static char urlencode_lut[256];
+static bool urlencode_lut_inited = false;
+
+void urlencode_lut_init()
+{
+   unsigned i;
+
+   urlencode_lut_inited = true;
+
+   for (i = 0; i < 256; i++)
+   {
+
+      urlencode_lut[i] = isalnum(i) || i == '*' || i == '-' || i == '.' || i == '_' ? i : (i == ' ') ? '+' : 0;
+   }
+}
+
+/* caller is responsible for deleting the destination buffer */
+void net_http_urlencode_full(char **dest, const char *source) {
+   /* Assume every character will be encoded, so we need 3 times the space. */
+   size_t len = strlen(source) * 3 + 1;
+   char *enc;
+
+   if (!urlencode_lut_inited)
+      urlencode_lut_init();
+
+   enc = (char*)calloc(1, len);
+
+   *dest = enc;
+
+   for (; *source; source++)
+   {
+      if (urlencode_lut[(int)*source]) sprintf(enc, "%c", urlencode_lut[(int)*source]);
+      else sprintf(enc, "%%%02X", *source);
+      while (*++(enc));
+   }
+
+   (*dest)[len - 1] = '\0';
+}
+
 static int net_http_new_socket(const char *domain, int port)
 {
    int ret;
@@ -108,50 +147,16 @@ static void net_http_send_str(int fd, bool *error, const char *text)
       *error = true;
 }
 
-static char* urlencode(const char* url)
-{
-   unsigned i;
-   unsigned outpos = 0;
-   unsigned outlen = 0;
-   char *ret       = NULL;
-
-   for (i = 0; url[i] != '\0'; i++)
-   {
-      outlen++;
-      if (url[i] == ' ')
-         outlen += 2;
-   }
-   
-   ret = (char*)malloc(outlen + 1);
-   if (!ret)
-      return NULL;
-   
-   for (i = 0; url[i]; i++)
-   {
-      if (url[i] == ' ')
-      {
-         ret[outpos++] = '%';
-         ret[outpos++] = '2';
-         ret[outpos++] = '0';
-      }
-      else
-         ret[outpos++] = url[i];
-   }
-   ret[outpos] = '\0';
-   
-   return ret;
-}
-
 struct http_connection_t *net_http_connection_new(const char *url, const char *method, const char *data)
 {
    char **domain = NULL;
-   struct http_connection_t *conn = (struct http_connection_t*)calloc(1, 
+   struct http_connection_t *conn = (struct http_connection_t*)calloc(1,
          sizeof(struct http_connection_t));
 
-   if (!conn)
+   if (!conn || !url)
       return NULL;
 
-   conn->urlcopy = urlencode(url);
+   conn->urlcopy = strdup(url);
 
    if (method)
       conn->methodcopy = strdup(method);
diff --git a/network/netplay/netplay_frontend.c b/network/netplay/netplay_frontend.c
index 3136e6ba2b..44b3f11ac9 100644
--- a/network/netplay/netplay_frontend.c
+++ b/network/netplay/netplay_frontend.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include <compat/strl.h>
 #include <retro_assert.h>
 #include <string/stdstring.h>
+#include <net/net_http.h>
 
 #include "netplay_private.h"
 
@@ -525,6 +526,15 @@ static void netplay_announce(void)
    rarch_system_info_t *system   = NULL;
    settings_t *settings          = config_get_ptr();
    uint32_t *content_crc_ptr     = NULL;
+   char *username;
+   char *corename;
+   char *gamename;
+   char *coreversion;
+
+   net_http_urlencode_full(&username, settings->username);
+   net_http_urlencode_full(&corename, system->info.library_name);
+   net_http_urlencode_full(&gamename, !string_is_empty(path_basename(path_get(RARCH_PATH_BASENAME))) ? path_basename(path_get(RARCH_PATH_BASENAME)) : "N/A");
+   net_http_urlencode_full(&coreversion, system->info.library_version);
 
    content_get_crc(&content_crc_ptr);
 
@@ -534,11 +544,15 @@ static void netplay_announce(void)
 
    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "username=%s&core_name=%s&core_version=%s&"
    "game_name=%s&game_crc=%d&port=%d&has_password=%d&has_spectate_password=%d",
-      settings->username, system->info.library_name, system->info.library_version,
-      !string_is_empty(path_basename(path_get(RARCH_PATH_BASENAME))) ? path_basename(path_get(RARCH_PATH_BASENAME)) : "N/A", *content_crc_ptr,
+      username, corename, coreversion, gamename, *content_crc_ptr,
       settings->netplay.port, settings->netplay.password ? 1 : 0, settings->netplay.spectate_password ? 1 : 0);
 
    task_push_http_post_transfer(url, buf, true, NULL, netplay_announce_cb, NULL);
+
+   free(username);
+   free(corename);
+   free(gamename);
+   free(coreversion);
 }
 
 int16_t input_state_net(unsigned port, unsigned device,