diff --git a/lib/fpm/package/pyfpm/get_metadata.py b/lib/fpm/package/pyfpm/get_metadata.py
index cd012755f0..8110954ff5 100644
--- a/lib/fpm/package/pyfpm/get_metadata.py
+++ b/lib/fpm/package/pyfpm/get_metadata.py
@@ -32,13 +32,16 @@ def u(s):
 class get_metadata(Command):
     description = "get package metadata"
     user_options = [
+        ('allow-underscores', 'a', 'allow underscores in package names/deps'),
         ('load-requirements-txt', 'l',
          "load dependencies from requirements.txt"),
         ("output=", "o", "output destination for metadata json")
     ]
-    boolean_options = ['load-requirements-txt']
+    boolean_options = ['allow-underscores', 'load-requirements-txt']
 
     def initialize_options(self):
+        # allow-underscores is handled in python_patch.py; this is ignored here
+        self.allow_underscores = False
         self.load_requirements_txt = False
         self.cwd = None
         self.output = None
@@ -68,7 +71,7 @@ def process_dep(self, dep):
 
     def run(self):
         data = {
-            "name": self.distribution.get_name(),
+            "name": pkg_resources.safe_name(self.distribution.get_name()),
             "version": self.distribution.get_version(),
             "author": u("%s <%s>") % (
                 u(self.distribution.get_author()),
diff --git a/lib/fpm/package/python.rb b/lib/fpm/package/python.rb
index 08f9d0d052..65968f931c 100644
--- a/lib/fpm/package/python.rb
+++ b/lib/fpm/package/python.rb
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 #
 class FPM::Package::Python < FPM::Package
   # Flags '--foo' will be accessable  as attributes[:python_foo]
+  option "--allow-underscores", :flag, "Should underscores be allowed in " \
+    " package names and dependencies?", :default => true
   option "--bin", "PYTHON_EXECUTABLE",
     "The path to the python executable you wish to run.", :default => "python"
   option "--easyinstall", "EASYINSTALL_EXECUTABLE",
@@ -233,6 +235,10 @@ def load_package_info(setup_py)
       setup_cmd = "env PYTHONPATH=#{pylib}:$PYTHONPATH #{attributes[:python_bin]} " \
         "#{pylib}/python_patch.py --command-packages=pyfpm get_metadata --output=#{tmp}"
 
+      if attributes[:python_allow_underscores?]
+        setup_cmd += " --allow-underscores"
+      end
+
       if attributes[:python_obey_requirements_txt?]
         setup_cmd += " --load-requirements-txt"
       end
diff --git a/lib/fpm/package/python_patch.py b/lib/fpm/package/python_patch.py
index a8f3e39013..134ea05389 100755
--- a/lib/fpm/package/python_patch.py
+++ b/lib/fpm/package/python_patch.py
@@ -1,4 +1,27 @@
+import pkg_resources
+import re
+import sys
 from setuptools.dist import Distribution
+
+
+def gen_safe_name(allow_underscores):
+    if allow_underscores:
+        regex = '[^A-Za-z0-9_.]+'
+    else:
+        # This matches the original verion in pkg_resources.
+        regex = '[^A-Za-z0-9.]+'
+
+    def safe_name(name):
+        return re.sub(regex, '-', name)
+
+    return safe_name
+
+
+# Use simple argument parsing--older python lacks argparse and optparse has no
+# good way to ignore unrecognized options (which need to be passed through).
+pkg_resources.safe_name = gen_safe_name('--allow-underscores' in sys.argv)
+
+
 try:
     # Many older modules include a setup.py that uses distutils.core, which
     # does not support the install_requires attribute. Monkey-patch