diff --git a/__tests__/variantsAtRule.test.js b/__tests__/variantsAtRule.test.js
index d0b20e4fc..44411663f 100644
--- a/__tests__/variantsAtRule.test.js
+++ b/__tests__/variantsAtRule.test.js
@@ -300,10 +300,43 @@ test('plugin variants can modify selectors with a simplified API', () => {
     ...config,
     plugins: [
       ...config.plugins,
-      function({ addVariant }) {
+      function({ addVariant, e }) {
         addVariant('first-child', ({ modifySelectors, separator }) => {
           modifySelectors(({ className }) => {
-            return `.first-child${separator}${className}:first-child`
+            return `.${e(`first-child${separator}${className}`)}:first-child`
+          })
+        })
+      },
+    ],
+  }).then(result => {
+    expect(result.css).toMatchCss(output)
+    expect(result.warnings().length).toBe(0)
+  })
+})
+
+test('plugin variants that use modify selectors need to manually escape the class name they are modifying', () => {
+  const input = `
+    @variants first-child {
+      .banana-1\\/2 { color: yellow; }
+      .chocolate-1\\.5 { color: brown; }
+    }
+  `
+
+  const output = `
+      .banana-1\\/2 { color: yellow; }
+      .chocolate-1\\.5 { color: brown; }
+      .first-child\\:banana-1\\/2:first-child { color: yellow; }
+      .first-child\\:chocolate-1\\.5:first-child { color: brown; }
+  `
+
+  return run(input, {
+    ...config,
+    plugins: [
+      ...config.plugins,
+      function({ addVariant, e }) {
+        addVariant('first-child', ({ modifySelectors, separator }) => {
+          modifySelectors(({ className }) => {
+            return `.${e(`first-child${separator}${className}`)}:first-child`
           })
         })
       },
@@ -335,13 +368,13 @@ test('plugin variants can wrap rules in another at-rule using the raw PostCSS AP
     ...config,
     plugins: [
       ...config.plugins,
-      function({ addVariant }) {
+      function({ addVariant, e }) {
         addVariant('supports-grid', ({ container, separator }) => {
           const supportsRule = postcss.atRule({ name: 'supports', params: '(display: grid)' })
           supportsRule.nodes = container.nodes
           container.nodes = [supportsRule]
           supportsRule.walkRules(rule => {
-            rule.selector = `.supports-grid${separator}${rule.selector.slice(1)}`
+            rule.selector = `.${e(`supports-grid${separator}${rule.selector.slice(1)}`)}`
           })
         })
       },
diff --git a/src/lib/substituteVariantsAtRules.js b/src/lib/substituteVariantsAtRules.js
index a586a66ec..73981d6c3 100644
--- a/src/lib/substituteVariantsAtRules.js
+++ b/src/lib/substituteVariantsAtRules.js
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 import _ from 'lodash'
 import postcss from 'postcss'
 import generateVariantFunction from '../util/generateVariantFunction'
+import e from '../util/escapeClassName'
 
 function generatePseudoClassVariant(pseudoClass) {
   return generateVariantFunction(({ modifySelectors, separator }) => {
     return modifySelectors(({ className }) => {
-      return `.${pseudoClass}${separator}${className}:${pseudoClass}`
+      return `.${e(`${pseudoClass}${separator}${className}`)}:${pseudoClass}`
     })
   })
 }
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ const defaultVariantGenerators = {
   default: generateVariantFunction(() => {}),
   'group-hover': generateVariantFunction(({ modifySelectors, separator }) => {
     return modifySelectors(({ className }) => {
-      return `.group:hover .group-hover${separator}${className}`
+      return `.group:hover .${e(`group-hover${separator}${className}`)}`
     })
   }),
   hover: generatePseudoClassVariant('hover'),
diff --git a/src/util/generateVariantFunction.js b/src/util/generateVariantFunction.js
index 616935894..b4db56559 100644
--- a/src/util/generateVariantFunction.js
+++ b/src/util/generateVariantFunction.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import _ from 'lodash'
 import postcss from 'postcss'
-import escapeClassName from './escapeClassName'
+import selectorParser from 'postcss-selector-parser'
 
 export default function generateVariantFunction(generator) {
   return (container, config) => {
@@ -10,15 +10,19 @@ export default function generateVariantFunction(generator) {
       _.defaultTo(
         generator({
           container: cloned,
-          separator: escapeClassName(config.separator),
+          separator: config.separator,
           modifySelectors: modifierFunction => {
             cloned.walkRules(rule => {
-              rule.selectors = rule.selectors.map(selector =>
-                modifierFunction({
-                  className: selector.slice(1),
+              rule.selectors = rule.selectors.map(selector => {
+                const className = selectorParser(selectors => {
+                  return selectors.first.filter(({ type }) => type === 'class').pop().value
+                }).transformSync(selector)
+
+                return modifierFunction({
+                  className,
                   selector,
                 })
-              )
+              })
             })
             return cloned
           },