diff --git a/addons/web/static/src/js/chrome.js b/addons/web/static/src/js/chrome.js
index 39bc0181e16..588af765978 100644
--- a/addons/web/static/src/js/chrome.js
+++ b/addons/web/static/src/js/chrome.js
@@ -280,6 +280,9 @@ openerp.web.Database = openerp.web.Widget.extend(/** @lends openerp.web.Database
     init: function(parent, element_id, option_id) {
         this._super(parent, element_id);
         this.unblockUIFunction = $.unblockUI;
+        $.validator.addMethod('matches', function (s, _, re) {
+            return new RegExp(re).test(s);
+        }, _t("Invalid database name"));
     },
     start: function() {
         this.$option_id = $("#oe_db_options");
diff --git a/addons/web/static/src/xml/base.xml b/addons/web/static/src/xml/base.xml
index f460d6ba435..b119e5aae3c 100644
--- a/addons/web/static/src/xml/base.xml
+++ b/addons/web/static/src/xml/base.xml
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@
             </tr>
             <tr>
                 <td><label for="db_name">New database name:</label></td>
-                <td><input type="text" name="db_name" class="required"/></td>
+                <td><input type="text" name="db_name"
+                           class="required" matches="^[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_]+$"/></td>
             </tr>
             <tr>
                 <td><label for="demo_data">Load Demonstration data:</label></td>