diff --git a/Doxyfile b/Doxyfile
index 8ae089ea..8eabf0ef 100644
--- a/Doxyfile
+++ b/Doxyfile
@@ -120,7 +120,6 @@ FILTER_PATTERNS        =
 FILTER_SOURCE_FILES    = NO
 FILTER_SOURCE_PATTERNS =
 USE_MDFILE_AS_MAINPAGE =
-MODIFY_SPECIAL_CHARS   = YES
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Configuration options related to source browsing
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/addon/doxyparse/doxyparse.cpp b/addon/doxyparse/doxyparse.cpp
index de29c535..54654004 100644
--- a/addon/doxyparse/doxyparse.cpp
+++ b/addon/doxyparse/doxyparse.cpp
@@ -425,7 +425,6 @@ int main(int argc,char **argv) {
 
   // check and finalize the configuration
   checkConfiguration();
-  Config_getBool(MODIFY_SPECIAL_CHARS)=FALSE;
   adjustConfiguration();
 
   // setup the non-default configuration options
diff --git a/src/config.xml b/src/config.xml
index 78d5fd68..fdc562d1 100644
--- a/src/config.xml
+++ b/src/config.xml
@@ -1562,14 +1562,6 @@ FILE_VERSION_FILTER = "cleartool desc -fmt \%Vn"
  is part of the input, its contents will be placed on the main page (`index.html`).
  This can be useful if you have a project on for instance GitHub and want to reuse
  the introduction page also for the doxygen output.
-]]>
-      </docs>
-    </option>
-    <option type='bool' id='MODIFY_SPECIAL_CHARS' defval='1'>
-      <docs>
-<![CDATA[
-If the \c MODIFY_SPECIAL_CHARS tag is set to \c YES, the chars _-:/<>*&|.!,{}?^
-%()+=$\@ and space will be changed to safer strings.
 ]]>
       </docs>
     </option>
diff --git a/src/util.cpp b/src/util.cpp
index 4bef4939..08c13fb4 100644
--- a/src/util.cpp
+++ b/src/util.cpp
@@ -5442,112 +5442,104 @@ QCString escapeCharsInString(const char *name,bool allowDots,bool allowUnderscor
 {
   static bool caseSenseNames = Config_getBool(CASE_SENSE_NAMES);
   static bool allowUnicodeNames = Config_getBool(ALLOW_UNICODE_NAMES);
-  static bool modifySpecialCharsInString = Config_getBool(MODIFY_SPECIAL_CHARS);
   static GrowBuf growBuf;
   growBuf.clear();
   char c;
   const char *p=name;
   while ((c=*p++)!=0)
   {
-    if(modifySpecialCharsInString)
+    switch(c)
     {
-      switch(c)
-      {
-        case '_': if (allowUnderscore) growBuf.addChar('_'); else growBuf.addStr("__"); break;
-        case '-': growBuf.addChar('-');  break;
-        case ':': growBuf.addStr("_1"); break;
-        case '/': growBuf.addStr("_2"); break;
-        case '<': growBuf.addStr("_3"); break;
-        case '>': growBuf.addStr("_4"); break;
-        case '*': growBuf.addStr("_5"); break;
-        case '&': growBuf.addStr("_6"); break;
-        case '|': growBuf.addStr("_7"); break;
-        case '.': if (allowDots) growBuf.addChar('.'); else growBuf.addStr("_8"); break;
-        case '!': growBuf.addStr("_9"); break;
-        case ',': growBuf.addStr("_00"); break;
-        case ' ': growBuf.addStr("_01"); break;
-        case '{': growBuf.addStr("_02"); break;
-        case '}': growBuf.addStr("_03"); break;
-        case '?': growBuf.addStr("_04"); break;
-        case '^': growBuf.addStr("_05"); break;
-        case '%': growBuf.addStr("_06"); break;
-        case '(': growBuf.addStr("_07"); break;
-        case ')': growBuf.addStr("_08"); break;
-        case '+': growBuf.addStr("_09"); break;
-        case '=': growBuf.addStr("_0A"); break;
-        case '$': growBuf.addStr("_0B"); break;
-        case '\\': growBuf.addStr("_0C"); break;
-        case '@': growBuf.addStr("_0D"); break;
-        default:
-                  if (c<0)
+      case '_': if (allowUnderscore) growBuf.addChar('_'); else growBuf.addStr("__"); break;
+      case '-': growBuf.addChar('-');  break;
+      case ':': growBuf.addStr("_1"); break;
+      case '/': growBuf.addStr("_2"); break;
+      case '<': growBuf.addStr("_3"); break;
+      case '>': growBuf.addStr("_4"); break;
+      case '*': growBuf.addStr("_5"); break;
+      case '&': growBuf.addStr("_6"); break;
+      case '|': growBuf.addStr("_7"); break;
+      case '.': if (allowDots) growBuf.addChar('.'); else growBuf.addStr("_8"); break;
+      case '!': growBuf.addStr("_9"); break;
+      case ',': growBuf.addStr("_00"); break;
+      case ' ': growBuf.addStr("_01"); break;
+      case '{': growBuf.addStr("_02"); break;
+      case '}': growBuf.addStr("_03"); break;
+      case '?': growBuf.addStr("_04"); break;
+      case '^': growBuf.addStr("_05"); break;
+      case '%': growBuf.addStr("_06"); break;
+      case '(': growBuf.addStr("_07"); break;
+      case ')': growBuf.addStr("_08"); break;
+      case '+': growBuf.addStr("_09"); break;
+      case '=': growBuf.addStr("_0A"); break;
+      case '$': growBuf.addStr("_0B"); break;
+      case '\\': growBuf.addStr("_0C"); break;
+      case '@': growBuf.addStr("_0D"); break;
+      default: 
+                if (c<0)
+                {
+                  char ids[5];
+                  const unsigned char uc = (unsigned char)c;
+                  bool doEscape = TRUE;
+                  if (allowUnicodeNames && uc <= 0xf7)
                   {
-                    char ids[5];
-                    const unsigned char uc = (unsigned char)c;
-                    bool doEscape = TRUE;
-                    if (allowUnicodeNames && uc <= 0xf7)
+                    const char* pt = p;
+                    ids[ 0 ] = c;
+                    int l = 0;
+                    if ((uc&0xE0)==0xC0)
                     {
-                      const char* pt = p;
-                      ids[ 0 ] = c;
-                      int l = 0;
-                      if ((uc&0xE0)==0xC0)
-                      {
-                        l=2; // 11xx.xxxx: >=2 byte character
-                      }
-                      if ((uc&0xF0)==0xE0)
-                      {
-                        l=3; // 111x.xxxx: >=3 byte character
-                      }
-                      if ((uc&0xF8)==0xF0)
-                      {
-                        l=4; // 1111.xxxx: >=4 byte character
-                      }
-                      doEscape = l==0;
-                      for (int m=1; m<l && !doEscape; ++m)
+                      l=2; // 11xx.xxxx: >=2 byte character
+                    }
+                    if ((uc&0xF0)==0xE0)
+                    {
+                      l=3; // 111x.xxxx: >=3 byte character
+                    }
+                    if ((uc&0xF8)==0xF0)
+                    {
+                      l=4; // 1111.xxxx: >=4 byte character
+                    }
+                    doEscape = l==0;
+                    for (int m=1; m<l && !doEscape; ++m)
+                    {
+                      unsigned char ct = (unsigned char)*pt;
+                      if (ct==0 || (ct&0xC0)!=0x80) // invalid unicode character
                       {
-                        unsigned char ct = (unsigned char)*pt;
-                        if (ct==0 || (ct&0xC0)!=0x80) // invalid unicode character
-                        {
-                          doEscape=TRUE;
-                        }
-                        else
-                        {
-                          ids[ m ] = *pt++;
-                        }
+                        doEscape=TRUE;
                       }
-                      if ( !doEscape ) // got a valid unicode character
+                      else
                       {
-                        ids[ l ] = 0;
-                        growBuf.addStr( ids );
-                        p += l - 1;
+                        ids[ m ] = *pt++;
                       }
                     }
-                    if (doEscape) // not a valid unicode char or escaping needed
+                    if ( !doEscape ) // got a valid unicode character
                     {
-                      static char map[] = "0123456789ABCDEF";
-                      unsigned char id = (unsigned char)c;
-                      ids[0]='_';
-                      ids[1]='x';
-                      ids[2]=map[id>>4];
-                      ids[3]=map[id&0xF];
-                      ids[4]=0;
-                      growBuf.addStr(ids);
+                      ids[ l ] = 0;
+                      growBuf.addStr( ids );
+                      p += l - 1;
                     }
                   }
-                  else if (caseSenseNames || !isupper(c))
-                  {
-                    growBuf.addChar(c);
-                  }
-                  else
+                  if (doEscape) // not a valid unicode char or escaping needed
                   {
-                    growBuf.addChar('_');
-                    growBuf.addChar(tolower(c));
+                    static char map[] = "0123456789ABCDEF";
+                    unsigned char id = (unsigned char)c;
+                    ids[0]='_';
+                    ids[1]='x';
+                    ids[2]=map[id>>4];
+                    ids[3]=map[id&0xF];
+                    ids[4]=0;
+                    growBuf.addStr(ids);
                   }
-                  break;
-      }
-    }
-    else
-    {
-      growBuf.addChar(c);
+                }
+                else if (caseSenseNames || !isupper(c))
+                {
+                  growBuf.addChar(c);
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                  growBuf.addChar('_');
+                  growBuf.addChar(tolower(c)); 
+                }
+                break;
     }
   }
   growBuf.addChar(0);