diff --git a/hibernate-validator/src/main/java/org/hibernate/validator/engine/PathImpl.java b/hibernate-validator/src/main/java/org/hibernate/validator/engine/PathImpl.java
index f154c01b55..b5ef601a8b 100644
--- a/hibernate-validator/src/main/java/org/hibernate/validator/engine/PathImpl.java
+++ b/hibernate-validator/src/main/java/org/hibernate/validator/engine/PathImpl.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 /**
  * @author Hardy Ferentschik
  * @author Gunnar Morling
+ * @author Kevin Pollet - SERLI - (kevin.pollet@serli.com)
  */
 public final class PathImpl implements Path, Serializable {
 
@@ -43,7 +44,11 @@ public final class PathImpl implements Path, Serializable {
 	 *
 	 * @see <a href="http://www.regexplanet.com/simple/index.jsp">Regular expression tester</a>
 	 */
-	private static final Pattern PATH_PATTERN = Pattern.compile( "(\\w+)(\\[(\\w*)\\])?(\\.(.*))*" );
+	private static final String LEADING_PROPERTY_GROUP = "[^\\[\\.]+";  // everything up to a [ or .
+	private static final String OPTIONAL_INDEX_GROUP = "\\[(\\w*)\\]";
+	private static final String REMAINING_PROPERTY_STRING = "\\.(.*)";  // processed recursively
+
+	private static final Pattern PATH_PATTERN = Pattern.compile( "(" + LEADING_PROPERTY_GROUP + ")(" + OPTIONAL_INDEX_GROUP + ")?(" + REMAINING_PROPERTY_STRING + ")*" );
 	private static final int PROPERTY_NAME_GROUP = 1;
 	private static final int INDEXED_GROUP = 2;
 	private static final int INDEX_GROUP = 3;
@@ -284,8 +289,12 @@ private static PathImpl parseProperty(String property) {
 			Matcher matcher = PATH_PATTERN.matcher( tmp );
 			if ( matcher.matches() ) {
 
-				// create the node
 				String value = matcher.group( PROPERTY_NAME_GROUP );
+				if ( !isValidJavaIdentifier( value ) ) {
+					throw new IllegalArgumentException( value + " is not a valid Java Identifier" );
+				}
+
+				// create the node
 				path.addNode( value );
 
 				// is the node indexable
@@ -319,4 +328,32 @@ private static PathImpl parseProperty(String property) {
 
 		return path;
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Validate that the given identifier is a valid Java identifier according to the Java Language Specification,
+	 * <a href="http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/lexical.html#3.8">chapter 3.8</a>
+	 *
+	 * @param identifier the identifier string
+	 * @return true if the given identifier is a valid Java Identifier
+	 *
+	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the identifier is null
+	 */
+	private static boolean isValidJavaIdentifier(String identifier) {
+		Contracts.assertNotNull( identifier, "identifier param cannot be null" );
+
+		final char[] identifierChars = identifier.toCharArray();
+
+		if ( identifierChars.length == 0 || !Character.isJavaIdentifierStart( (int) identifierChars[0] ) ) {
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		for ( int i = 1; i < identifierChars.length; i++ ) {
+			if ( !Character.isJavaIdentifierPart( (int) identifierChars[i] ) ) {
+				return false;
+			}
+		}
+
+		return true;
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/hibernate-validator/src/test/java/org/hibernate/validator/test/engine/PathImplTest.java b/hibernate-validator/src/test/java/org/hibernate/validator/test/engine/PathImplTest.java
index 5ff081f753..411e9ecabf 100644
--- a/hibernate-validator/src/test/java/org/hibernate/validator/test/engine/PathImplTest.java
+++ b/hibernate-validator/src/test/java/org/hibernate/validator/test/engine/PathImplTest.java
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 /**
  * @author Hardy Ferentschik
  * @author Gunnar Morling
+ * @author Kevin Pollet - SERLI - (kevin.pollet@serli.com)
  */
 public class PathImplTest {
 
@@ -76,6 +77,35 @@ public void testParsing() {
 		assertEquals( path.toString(), property );
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testParsingPropertyWithCurrencySymbol() {
+		PathImpl path = PathImpl.createPathFromString( "€Amount" );
+		Iterator<Path.Node> it = path.iterator();
+
+		assertEquals( it.next().getName(), "€Amount" );
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testParsingPropertyWithGermanCharacter() {
+		PathImpl path = PathImpl.createPathFromString( "höchstBetrag" );
+		Iterator<Path.Node> it = path.iterator();
+
+		assertEquals( it.next().getName(), "höchstBetrag" );
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testParsingPropertyWithUnicodeCharacter() {
+		PathImpl path = PathImpl.createPathFromString( "höchst\u00f6Betrag" );
+		Iterator<Path.Node> it = path.iterator();
+
+		assertEquals( it.next().getName(), "höchst\u00f6Betrag" );
+	}
+
+	@Test(expectedExceptions = IllegalArgumentException.class)
+	public void testParsingInvalidJavaProperty() {
+		PathImpl.createPathFromString( "1invalid" );
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testParseMapBasedProperty() {
 		String property = "order[foo].deliveryAddress";
diff --git a/hibernate-validator/src/test/java/org/hibernate/validator/test/engine/ValidatorTest.java b/hibernate-validator/src/test/java/org/hibernate/validator/test/engine/ValidatorTest.java
index e6a01f3825..520721f683 100644
--- a/hibernate-validator/src/test/java/org/hibernate/validator/test/engine/ValidatorTest.java
+++ b/hibernate-validator/src/test/java/org/hibernate/validator/test/engine/ValidatorTest.java
@@ -23,18 +23,41 @@
 import javax.validation.constraints.NotNull;
 import javax.validation.metadata.BeanDescriptor;
 
-import static org.testng.Assert.assertTrue;
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
 
 import org.hibernate.validator.test.util.TestUtil;
+
 import static org.hibernate.validator.test.util.TestUtil.assertCorrectPropertyPaths;
 import static org.hibernate.validator.test.util.TestUtil.assertNumberOfViolations;
+import static org.testng.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 /**
  * @author Hardy Ferentschik
+ * @author Kevin Pollet - SERLI - (kevin.pollet@serli.com)
  */
 public class ValidatorTest {
 
+	/**
+	 * HV-376
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void testValidatePropertyWithCurrencySymbol() {
+		Validator validator = TestUtil.getValidator();
+		Ticket testInstance = new Ticket();
+		Set<ConstraintViolation<Ticket>> constraintViolations = validator.validateProperty( testInstance, "€price" );
+		assertNumberOfViolations( constraintViolations, 1 );
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testValidateValueWithCurrencySymbol() {
+		Validator validator = TestUtil.getValidator();
+		Ticket testInstance = new Ticket();
+		Set<ConstraintViolation<Ticket>> constraintViolations = validator.validateValue(
+				Ticket.class, "€price", testInstance.€price
+		);
+		assertNumberOfViolations( constraintViolations, 1 );
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * HV-208
 	 */
@@ -70,4 +93,9 @@ public boolean hasB() {
 			return b;
 		}
 	}
+
+	class Ticket {
+		@NotNull
+		Float €price;
+	}
 }
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 65a00765b6..3c48788dcc 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@
 
     <properties>
         <slf4jVersion>1.6.1</slf4jVersion>
+
+        <!-- see http://maven.apache.org/general.html -->
+        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
     </properties>
 
     <dependencyManagement>