diff --git a/request.js b/request.js
index 6857890d8..724cf7a5d 100644
--- a/request.js
+++ b/request.js
@@ -253,6 +253,13 @@ function responseToJSON() {
   }
 }
 
+// encode rfc3986 characters
+function rfc3986 (str) {
+  return str.replace(/[!'()*]/g, function(c) {
+    return '%' + c.charCodeAt(0).toString(16).toUpperCase()
+  })
+}
+
 function Request (options) {
   // if tunnel property of options was not given default to false
   // if given the method property in options, set property explicitMethod to true
@@ -1402,7 +1409,9 @@ Request.prototype.qs = function (q, clobber) {
     return self
   }
 
-  self.uri = url.parse(self.uri.href.split('?')[0] + '?' + self.qsLib.stringify(base))
+  var qs = self.qsLib.stringify(base)
+
+  self.uri = url.parse(self.uri.href.split('?')[0] + '?' + rfc3986(qs))
   self.url = self.uri
   self.path = self.uri.path
 
@@ -1413,6 +1422,7 @@ Request.prototype.form = function (form) {
   if (form) {
     self.setHeader('content-type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded')
     self.body = (typeof form === 'string') ? form.toString('utf8') : self.qsLib.stringify(form).toString('utf8')
+    self.body = rfc3986(self.body)
     return self
   }
   // create form-data object
@@ -1482,14 +1492,18 @@ Request.prototype.json = function (val) {
 
   self._json = true
   if (typeof val === 'boolean') {
-    if (self.body !== undefined && !/^application\/x-www-form-urlencoded\b/.test(self.getHeader('content-type'))) {
-      self.body = safeStringify(self.body)
+    if (self.body !== undefined) {
+      if (!/^application\/x-www-form-urlencoded\b/.test(self.getHeader('content-type'))) {
+        self.body = safeStringify(self.body)
+      }
+      self.body = rfc3986(self.body)
       if (!self.hasHeader('content-type')) {
         self.setHeader('content-type', 'application/json')
       }
     }
   } else {
     self.body = safeStringify(val)
+    self.body = rfc3986(self.body)
     if (!self.hasHeader('content-type')) {
       self.setHeader('content-type', 'application/json')
     }
diff --git a/tests/test-rfc3986.js b/tests/test-rfc3986.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d346b3efd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-rfc3986.js
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+'use strict'
+
+var http = require('http')
+  , request = require('../index')
+  , tape = require('tape')
+
+
+function runTest (t, options) {
+
+  var server = http.createServer(function(req, res) {
+
+    var data = ''
+    req.setEncoding('utf8')
+
+    req.on('data', function(d) {
+      data += d
+    })
+
+    req.on('end', function() {
+      if (options.qs) {
+        t.equal(req.url, '/?rfc3986=%21%2A%28%29%27')
+      }
+      if (options.form) {
+        t.equal(data, 'rfc3986=%21%2A%28%29%27')
+      }
+      if (options.body) {
+        if (options.headers) {
+          t.equal(data, 'rfc3986=%21%2A%28%29%27')
+        }
+        else {
+          t.equal(data, '{"rfc3986":"%21%2A%28%29%27"}')
+        }
+      }
+      if (typeof options.json === 'object') {
+        t.equal(data, '{"rfc3986":"%21%2A%28%29%27"}')
+      }
+
+      res.writeHead(200)
+      res.end('done')
+    })
+  })
+
+  server.listen(8080, function() {
+
+    request.post('http://localhost:8080', options, function(err, res, body) {
+      t.equal(err, null)
+      server.close()
+      t.end()
+    })
+  })
+}
+
+var cases = [
+  {qs: {rfc3986: '!*()\''}},
+  {qs: {rfc3986: '!*()\''}, json: true},
+  {form: {rfc3986: '!*()\''}},
+  {form: {rfc3986: '!*()\''}, json: true},
+  {qs: {rfc3986: '!*()\''}, form: {rfc3986: '!*()\''}},
+  {qs: {rfc3986: '!*()\''}, form: {rfc3986: '!*()\''}, json: true},
+  {
+    headers: {'content-type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8'},
+    body: 'rfc3986=!*()\'',
+    json: true
+  },
+  {
+    body: {rfc3986: '!*()\''}, json: true
+  },
+  {
+    json: {rfc3986: '!*()\''}
+  }
+]
+
+cases.forEach(function (options, index) {
+  tape('rfc3986 ' + index, function(t) {
+    runTest(t, options)
+  })
+})