diff --git a/lib/core/src/lsUtil.cpp b/lib/core/src/lsUtil.cpp
index d28c276cd1..6dd151279a 100644
--- a/lib/core/src/lsUtil.cpp
+++ b/lib/core/src/lsUtil.cpp
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include "irods/rcGlobalExtern.h"
 #include "irods/filesystem.hpp"
 #include "irods/irods_query.hpp"
+#include "irods/escape_utilities.hpp"
 
 #include <boost/format.hpp>
 
@@ -59,8 +60,10 @@ int lsUtil(rcComm_t *conn,
             return status;
         }
 
+        const auto escaped_data_name = irods::single_quotes_to_hex(data_name);
+        const auto escaped_coll_name = irods::single_quotes_to_hex(coll_name);
         const std::string query_str{(boost::format(
-            "select DATA_ID where DATA_NAME = '%s' and COLL_NAME = '%s'") % data_name % coll_name).str()};
+            "select DATA_ID where DATA_NAME = '%s' and COLL_NAME = '%s'") % escaped_data_name % escaped_coll_name).str()};
         irods::query qobj{conn, query_str};
         if (qobj.size() > 0) {
             if (const auto id = qobj.front()[0]; !id.empty()) {