diff --git a/nova/api/openstack/compute/legacy_v2/contrib/cells.py b/nova/api/openstack/compute/legacy_v2/contrib/cells.py
index 90cf227d43cd..8e2c5e969235 100644
--- a/nova/api/openstack/compute/legacy_v2/contrib/cells.py
+++ b/nova/api/openstack/compute/legacy_v2/contrib/cells.py
@@ -187,12 +187,14 @@ class Controller(object):
         return {}
 
     def _validate_cell_name(self, cell_name):
-        """Validate cell name is not empty and doesn't contain '!' or '.'."""
+        """Validate cell name is not empty and doesn't contain '!',
+         '.' or '@'.
+        """
         if not cell_name:
             msg = _("Cell name cannot be empty")
             raise exc.HTTPBadRequest(explanation=msg)
-        if '!' in cell_name or '.' in cell_name:
-            msg = _("Cell name cannot contain '!' or '.'")
+        if '!' in cell_name or '.' in cell_name or '@' in cell_name:
+            msg = _("Cell name cannot contain '!', '.' or '@'")
             raise exc.HTTPBadRequest(explanation=msg)
 
     def _validate_cell_type(self, cell_type):
diff --git a/nova/api/openstack/compute/schemas/cells.py b/nova/api/openstack/compute/schemas/cells.py
index 37a9ed5cc0de..2ee79e32b4c5 100644
--- a/nova/api/openstack/compute/schemas/cells.py
+++ b/nova/api/openstack/compute/schemas/cells.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ create = {
         'cell': {
             'type': 'object',
             'properties': {
-                'name': parameter_types.name,
+                'name': parameter_types.cell_name,
                 'type': {
                     'type': 'string',
                     'enum': ['parent', 'child'],
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ update = {
         'cell': {
             'type': 'object',
             'properties': {
-                'name': parameter_types.name,
+                'name': parameter_types.cell_name,
                 'type': {
                     'type': 'string',
                     'enum': ['parent', 'child'],
diff --git a/nova/api/validation/parameter_types.py b/nova/api/validation/parameter_types.py
index a0126e7270f8..4fbf6477a3d4 100644
--- a/nova/api/validation/parameter_types.py
+++ b/nova/api/validation/parameter_types.py
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ def _get_all_chars():
     for i in range(0xFFFF):
         yield six.unichr(i)
 
+
 # build a regex that matches all printable characters. This allows
 # spaces in the middle of the name. Also note that the regexp below
 # deliberately allows the empty string. This is so only the constraint
@@ -47,13 +48,25 @@ def _get_all_chars():
 # empty string is tested. Otherwise it is not deterministic which
 # constraint fails and this causes issues for some unittests when
 # PYTHONHASHSEED is set randomly.
-_printable = ''.join(c for c in _get_all_chars() if _is_printable(c))
+def _get_printable(exclude=None):
+    if exclude is None:
+        exclude = []
+    return ''.join(c for c in _get_all_chars()
+                       if _is_printable(c) and c not in exclude)
+
+
 _printable_ws = ''.join(c for c in _get_all_chars()
                         if unicodedata.category(c) == "Zs")
 
 valid_name_regex = '^(?![%s])[%s]*(?<![%s])$' % (
-    re.escape(_printable_ws), re.escape(_printable), re.escape(_printable_ws))
+    re.escape(_printable_ws), re.escape(_get_printable()),
+    re.escape(_printable_ws))
 
+# cell's name disallow '!',  '.' and '@'.
+valid_cell_name_regex = '^(?![%s])[%s]*(?<![%s])$' % (
+    re.escape(_printable_ws),
+    re.escape(_get_printable(exclude=['!', '.', '@'])),
+    re.escape(_printable_ws))
 
 boolean = {
     'type': ['boolean', 'string'],
@@ -109,6 +122,12 @@ name = {
 }
 
 
+cell_name = {
+    'type': 'string', 'minLength': 1, 'maxLength': 255,
+    'pattern': valid_cell_name_regex,
+}
+
+
 tcp_udp_port = {
     'type': ['integer', 'string'], 'pattern': '^[0-9]*$',
     'minimum': 0, 'maximum': 65535,
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_cells.py b/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_cells.py
index b3b5a9615414..7d4a8fcb6c17 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_cells.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_cells.py
@@ -286,9 +286,32 @@ class CellsTestV21(BaseCellsTest):
 
         req = self._get_request("cells")
         req.environ['nova.context'] = self.context
-        res_dict = self.controller.create(req, body=body)
-        cell = res_dict['cell']
-        self.assertEqual(cell['name'], 'moo.cow')
+        self.assertRaises(self.bad_request, self.controller.create,
+                          req, body=body)
+
+    def test_cell_create_name_with_exclamation_point_raises(self):
+        body = {'cell': {'name': 'moo!cow',
+                         'username': 'fred',
+                         'password': 'secret',
+                         'rpc_host': 'r3.example.org',
+                         'type': 'parent'}}
+
+        req = self._get_request("cells")
+        req.environ['nova.context'] = self.context
+        self.assertRaises(self.bad_request, self.controller.create,
+                          req, body=body)
+
+    def test_cell_create_name_with_at_raises(self):
+        body = {'cell': {'name': 'moo@cow',
+                         'username': 'fred',
+                         'password': 'secret',
+                         'rpc_host': 'r3.example.org',
+                         'type': 'parent'}}
+
+        req = self._get_request("cells")
+        req.environ['nova.context'] = self.context
+        self.assertRaises(self.bad_request, self.controller.create,
+                          req, body=body)
 
     def test_cell_create_name_with_invalid_type_raises(self):
         body = {'cell': {'name': 'moocow',
@@ -681,32 +704,11 @@ class CellsTestV2(CellsTestV21):
     cell_extension = 'compute_extension:cells'
     bad_request = exc.HTTPBadRequest
 
-    def test_cell_create_name_with_invalid_character_raises(self):
-        body = {'cell': {'name': 'moo!cow',
-                         'username': 'fred',
-                         'password': 'secret',
-                         'rpc_host': 'r3.example.org',
-                         'type': 'parent'}}
-
-        req = self._get_request("cells")
-        req.environ['nova.context'] = self.context
-        self.assertRaises(self.bad_request,
-            self.controller.create, req, body=body)
-
     def _get_cell_controller(self, ext_mgr):
         return cells_ext_v2.Controller(ext_mgr)
 
-    def test_cell_create_name_with_dot_raises(self):
-        body = {'cell': {'name': 'moo.cow',
-                         'username': 'fred',
-                         'password': 'secret',
-                         'rpc_host': 'r3.example.org',
-                         'type': 'parent'}}
-
-        req = self._get_request("cells")
-        req.environ['nova.context'] = self.context
-        self.assertRaises(exc.HTTPBadRequest,
-            self.controller.create, req, body=body)
+    def test_cell_create_name_with_invalid_character_raises(self):
+        pass
 
     def test_cell_create_rpc_port_with_null(self):
         body = {'cell': {'name': 'fake',