diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 82968a4..4d9ed0a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,12 +22,13 @@ var parsed = npa("@bar/foo@1.2")
 
 // Returns an object like:
 {
-  raw: '@bar/foo@1.2',   // what was passed in
-  name: "@bar/foo",      // the name of the package
-  scope: "@bar",         // the private scope of the package, or null
-  type: "range",         // the type of specifier this is
-  spec: ">=1.2.0 <1.3.0" // the expanded specifier
-  rawSpec: "1.2"         // the specifier as passed in
+  raw: '@bar/foo@1.2',       // what was passed in
+  name: '@bar/foo',          // the name of the package
+  escapedName: '@bar%2ffoo', // the escaped name, for registry internals
+  scope: '@bar',             // the scope of the package, or null
+  type: 'range',             // the type of specifier this is
+  spec: '>=1.2.0 <1.3.0',    // the expanded specifier
+  rawSpec: '1.2'             // the specifier as passed in
  }
 
 // Parsing urls pointing at hosted git services produces a variation:
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ var parsed = npa("git+https://github.com/user/foo")
   raw: 'git+https://github.com/user/foo',
   scope: null,
   name: null,
+  escapedName: null,
   rawSpec: 'git+https://github.com/user/foo',
   spec: 'user/foo',
   type: 'hosted',
@@ -97,8 +99,11 @@ keys:
 * `rawSpec` - The part after the `name@...`, as it was originally
   provided.
 * `scope` - If a name is something like `@org/module` then the `scope`
-  field will be set to `org`.  If it doesn't have a scoped name, then
+  field will be set to `@org`.  If it doesn't have a scoped name, then
   scope is `null`.
+* `escapedName` - The escaped version of `name`, which may be needed when
+  interacting with registry internals like CouchDB. When `name` is `null`,
+  `escapedName` will also be `null`.
 
 If you only include a name and no specifier part, eg, `foo` or `foo@` then
 a default of `latest` will be used (as of 4.1.0). This is contrast with
diff --git a/npa.js b/npa.js
index 1e6deb1..1d884e3 100644
--- a/npa.js
+++ b/npa.js
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ function npa (arg) {
   var res = new Result
   res.raw = arg
   res.scope = null
+  res.escapedName = null
 
   // See if it's something like foo@...
   var nameparse = arg.match(nameAt)
@@ -50,6 +51,7 @@ function npa (arg) {
   if (nameparse && validName(nameparse[3]) &&
       (!nameparse[2] || validName(nameparse[2]))) {
     res.name = (nameparse[1] || "") + nameparse[3]
+    res.escapedName = escapeName(res.name)
     if (nameparse[2])
       res.scope = "@" + nameparse[2]
     arg = arg.substr(nameparse[0].length)
@@ -106,6 +108,7 @@ function npa (arg) {
       res.spec = "latest"
       res.rawSpec = ""
       res.name = arg
+      res.escapedName = escapeName(res.name)
       if (p[1])
         res.scope = "@" + p[1]
     } else {
@@ -116,6 +119,11 @@ function npa (arg) {
   return res
 }
 
+function escapeName (name) {
+  // scoped packages in couch must have slash url-encoded, e.g. @foo%2Fbar
+  return name && name.replace('/', '%2f')
+}
+
 function parseLocal (res, arg) {
   // turns out nearly every character is allowed in fs paths
   if (/\0/.test(arg)) {
diff --git a/test/basic.js b/test/basic.js
index 7e4112b..bce4c91 100644
--- a/test/basic.js
+++ b/test/basic.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
   var tests = {
     "foo@1.2": {
       name: "foo",
+      escapedName: "foo",
       type: "range",
       spec: ">=1.2.0 <1.3.0",
       raw: "foo@1.2",
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
     "@foo/bar": {
       raw: "@foo/bar",
       name: "@foo/bar",
+      escapedName: "@foo%2fbar",
       scope: "@foo",
       rawSpec: "",
       spec: "latest",
@@ -25,6 +27,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
     "@foo/bar@": {
       raw: "@foo/bar@",
       name: "@foo/bar",
+      escapedName: "@foo%2fbar",
       scope: "@foo",
       rawSpec: "",
       spec: "latest",
@@ -34,6 +37,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
     "@foo/bar@baz": {
       raw: "@foo/bar@baz",
       name: "@foo/bar",
+      escapedName: "@foo%2fbar",
       scope: "@foo",
       rawSpec: "baz",
       spec: "baz",
@@ -43,6 +47,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
     "@f fo o al/ a d s ;f ": {
       raw: "@f fo o al/ a d s ;f",
       name: null,
+      escapedName: null,
       rawSpec: "@f fo o al/ a d s ;f",
       spec: "@f fo o al/ a d s ;f",
       type: "local"
@@ -50,6 +55,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "foo@1.2.3": {
       name: "foo",
+      escapedName: "foo",
       type: "version",
       spec: "1.2.3",
       raw: "foo@1.2.3"
@@ -57,6 +63,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "foo@=v1.2.3": {
       name: "foo",
+      escapedName: "foo",
       type: "version",
       spec: "1.2.3",
       raw: "foo@=v1.2.3",
@@ -65,6 +72,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "git+ssh://git@notgithub.com/user/foo#1.2.3": {
       name: null,
+      escapedName: null,
       type: "git",
       spec: "ssh://git@notgithub.com/user/foo#1.2.3",
       raw: "git+ssh://git@notgithub.com/user/foo#1.2.3"
@@ -72,6 +80,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "git+file://path/to/repo#1.2.3": {
       name: null,
+      escapedName: null,
       type: "git",
       spec: "file://path/to/repo#1.2.3",
       raw: "git+file://path/to/repo#1.2.3"
@@ -79,6 +88,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "git://notgithub.com/user/foo": {
       name: null,
+      escapedName: null,
       type: "git",
       spec: "git://notgithub.com/user/foo",
       raw: "git://notgithub.com/user/foo"
@@ -86,6 +96,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "@foo/bar@git+ssh://notgithub.com/user/foo": {
       name: "@foo/bar",
+      escapedName: "@foo%2fbar",
       scope: "@foo",
       spec: "ssh://notgithub.com/user/foo",
       rawSpec: "git+ssh://notgithub.com/user/foo",
@@ -94,6 +105,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "/path/to/foo": {
       name: null,
+      escapedName: null,
       type: "local",
       spec: path.resolve(__dirname, "/path/to/foo"),
       raw: "/path/to/foo"
@@ -101,6 +113,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "file:path/to/foo": {
       name: null,
+      escapedName: null,
       type: "local",
       spec: "path/to/foo",
       raw: "file:path/to/foo"
@@ -108,6 +121,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "file:~/path/to/foo": {
       name: null,
+      escapedName: null,
       type: "local",
       spec: "~/path/to/foo",
       raw: "file:~/path/to/foo"
@@ -115,6 +129,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "file:../path/to/foo": {
       name: null,
+      escapedName: null,
       type: "local",
       spec: "../path/to/foo",
       raw: "file:../path/to/foo"
@@ -122,6 +137,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "file:///path/to/foo": {
       name: null,
+      escapedName: null,
       type: "local",
       spec: "/path/to/foo",
       raw: "file:///path/to/foo"
@@ -129,6 +145,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "https://server.com/foo.tgz": {
       name: null,
+      escapedName: null,
       type: "remote",
       spec: "https://server.com/foo.tgz",
       raw: "https://server.com/foo.tgz"
@@ -136,6 +153,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "foo@latest": {
       name: "foo",
+      escapedName: "foo",
       type: "tag",
       spec: "latest",
       raw: "foo@latest"
@@ -143,6 +161,7 @@ require("tap").test("basic", function (t) {
 
     "foo": {
       name: "foo",
+      escapedName: "foo",
       type: "tag",
       spec: "latest",
       raw: "foo"
diff --git a/test/windows.js b/test/windows.js
index b91416e..344cc6d 100644
--- a/test/windows.js
+++ b/test/windows.js
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ var cases = {
     raw: "C:\\x\\y\\z",
     scope: null,
     name: null,
+    escapedName: null,
     rawSpec: "C:\\x\\y\\z",
     spec: "C:\\x\\y\\z",
     type: "local"
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ var cases = {
     raw: "foo@C:\\x\\y\\z",
     scope: null,
     name: "foo",
+    escapedName: "foo",
     rawSpec: "C:\\x\\y\\z",
     spec: "C:\\x\\y\\z",
     type: "local"
@@ -25,6 +27,7 @@ var cases = {
     raw: "foo@file:///C:\\x\\y\\z",
     scope: null,
     name: "foo",
+    escapedName: "foo",
     rawSpec: "file:///C:\\x\\y\\z",
     spec: "C:\\x\\y\\z",
     type: "local"
@@ -33,6 +36,7 @@ var cases = {
     raw: "foo@file://C:\\x\\y\\z",
     scope: null,
     name: "foo",
+    escapedName: "foo",
     rawSpec: "file://C:\\x\\y\\z",
     spec: "C:\\x\\y\\z",
     type: "local"
@@ -41,6 +45,7 @@ var cases = {
     raw: "file:///C:\\x\\y\\z",
     scope: null,
     name: null,
+    escapedName: null,
     rawSpec: "file:///C:\\x\\y\\z",
     spec: "C:\\x\\y\\z",
     type: "local"
@@ -49,6 +54,7 @@ var cases = {
     raw: "file://C:\\x\\y\\z",
     scope: null,
     name: null,
+    escapedName: null,
     rawSpec: "file://C:\\x\\y\\z",
     spec: "C:\\x\\y\\z",
     type: "local"
@@ -57,6 +63,7 @@ var cases = {
     raw: "foo@/foo/bar/baz",
     scope: null,
     name: "foo",
+    escapedName: "foo",
     rawSpec: "/foo/bar/baz",
     spec: "/foo/bar/baz",
     type: "local"