diff --git a/middleware/basic_auth.go b/middleware/basic_auth.go
index a546c9e9..90883730 100644
--- a/middleware/basic_auth.go
+++ b/middleware/basic_auth.go
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ package middleware
 
 import (
 	"crypto/subtle"
-	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
+	"strconv"
 )
 
 // BasicAuth implements a simple middleware handler for adding basic http auth to a route.
@@ -28,6 +28,6 @@ func BasicAuth(realm string, creds map[string]string) func(next http.Handler) ht
 }
 
 func basicAuthFailed(w http.ResponseWriter, realm string) {
-	w.Header().Add("WWW-Authenticate", fmt.Sprintf(`Basic realm="%s"`, realm))
+	w.Header().Add("WWW-Authenticate", "Basic realm="+strconv.Quote(realm))
 	w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized)
 }
diff --git a/middleware/basic_auth_test.go b/middleware/basic_auth_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..da5d802b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/middleware/basic_auth_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+package middleware
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestBasicAuthEscapesRealm(t *testing.T) {
+	realm := `admin"ops\zone`
+	h := BasicAuth(realm, map[string]string{"user": "pass"})(http.HandlerFunc(
+		func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {},
+	))
+
+	rr := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/", nil)
+	h.ServeHTTP(rr, req)
+
+	if rr.Code != http.StatusUnauthorized {
+		t.Fatalf("status code = %d, want %d", rr.Code, http.StatusUnauthorized)
+	}
+
+	const want = `Basic realm="admin\"ops\\zone"`
+	if got := rr.Header().Get("WWW-Authenticate"); got != want {
+		t.Fatalf("WWW-Authenticate = %q, want %q", got, want)
+	}
+}