diff --git a/cmd/snapctl/metric.go b/cmd/snapctl/metric.go
index bacdb150b..044a73297 100644
--- a/cmd/snapctl/metric.go
+++ b/cmd/snapctl/metric.go
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/codegangsta/cli"
 	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/mgmt/rest/client"
 	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/mgmt/rest/rbody"
+
+	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/pkg/stringutils"
 )
 
 func listMetrics(ctx *cli.Context) error {
@@ -189,11 +191,12 @@ func getMetric(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 func getNamespace(mt *rbody.Metric) string {
 	ns := mt.Namespace
 	if mt.Dynamic {
-		slice := strings.Split(ns, "/")
+		fc := stringutils.GetFirstChar(ns)
+		slice := strings.Split(ns, fc)
 		for _, v := range mt.DynamicElements {
 			slice[v.Index+1] = "[" + v.Name + "]"
 		}
-		ns = strings.Join(slice, "/")
+		ns = strings.Join(slice, fc)
 	}
 	return ns
 }
diff --git a/core/metric_test.go b/core/metric_test.go
index ce75e4468..12b2d175e 100644
--- a/core/metric_test.go
+++ b/core/metric_test.go
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
 package core
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/pkg/stringutils"
 	. "github.com/smartystreets/goconvey/convey"
 )
 
@@ -14,23 +14,13 @@ func TestMetricSeparator(t *testing.T) {
 	Convey("Test namespace separator", t, func() {
 		for _, c := range tc {
 			Convey("namespace "+c.input.String(), func() {
-				firstChar := getFirstChar(c.input.String())
+				firstChar := stringutils.GetFirstChar(c.input.String())
 				So(firstChar, ShouldEqual, c.expected)
 			})
 		}
 	})
 }
 
-// GetFirstChar returns the first character from the input string.
-func getFirstChar(s string) string {
-	firstChar := ""
-	for _, r := range s {
-		firstChar = fmt.Sprintf("%c", r)
-		break
-	}
-	return firstChar
-}
-
 type testCase struct {
 	input    Namespace
 	expected string
diff --git a/mgmt/rest/metric.go b/mgmt/rest/metric.go
index 87ed6d204..b0863a0a4 100644
--- a/mgmt/rest/metric.go
+++ b/mgmt/rest/metric.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/core"
 	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/mgmt/rest/rbody"
+	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/pkg/stringutils"
 )
 
 func (s *Server) getMetrics(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, _ httprouter.Params) {
@@ -51,8 +52,9 @@ func (s *Server) getMetrics(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, _ httprouter
 				return
 			}
 		}
-		// strip the leading '/' and split on the remaining '/'
-		ns := strings.Split(strings.TrimLeft(ns_query, "/"), "/")
+		// strip the leading char and split on the remaining.
+		fc := stringutils.GetFirstChar(ns_query)
+		ns := strings.Split(strings.TrimLeft(ns_query, fc), fc)
 		if ns[len(ns)-1] == "*" {
 			ns = ns[:len(ns)-1]
 		}
diff --git a/mgmt/rest/server.go b/mgmt/rest/server.go
index ab1543690..f35ab723a 100644
--- a/mgmt/rest/server.go
+++ b/mgmt/rest/server.go
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/mgmt/rest/rbody"
 	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/mgmt/tribe/agreement"
 	cschedule "github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/pkg/schedule"
+	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/pkg/stringutils"
 	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/scheduler/wmap"
 )
 
@@ -516,17 +517,7 @@ func respond(code int, b rbody.Body, w http.ResponseWriter) {
 }
 
 func parseNamespace(ns string) []string {
-	fc := getFirstChar(ns)
+	fc := stringutils.GetFirstChar(ns)
 	ns = strings.Trim(ns, fc)
 	return strings.Split(ns, fc)
 }
-
-// GetFirstChar returns the first character from the input string.
-func getFirstChar(s string) string {
-	firstChar := ""
-	for _, r := range s {
-		firstChar = fmt.Sprintf("%c", r)
-		break
-	}
-	return firstChar
-}
diff --git a/pkg/stringutils/string.go b/pkg/stringutils/string.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..14a9e72f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/stringutils/string.go
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+package stringutils
+
+import "fmt"
+
+// GetFirstChar returns the first character from the input string.
+func GetFirstChar(s string) string {
+	firstChar := ""
+	for _, r := range s {
+		firstChar = fmt.Sprintf("%c", r)
+		break
+	}
+	return firstChar
+}
diff --git a/plugin/collector/snap-plugin-collector-mock2-grpc/mock/mock.go b/plugin/collector/snap-plugin-collector-mock2-grpc/mock/mock.go
index be3378ce3..eea5708b0 100644
--- a/plugin/collector/snap-plugin-collector-mock2-grpc/mock/mock.go
+++ b/plugin/collector/snap-plugin-collector-mock2-grpc/mock/mock.go
@@ -113,30 +113,45 @@ func (f *Mock) GetMetricTypes(cfg plugin.Config) ([]plugin.Metric, error) {
 	}
 	if _, err := cfg.GetBool("test"); err == nil {
 		mts = append(mts, plugin.Metric{
-			Namespace:   plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "test"),
+			Namespace:   plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "test%>"),
 			Description: "mock description",
 			Unit:        "mock unit",
 		})
 	}
 	if _, err := cfg.GetBool("test-less"); err != nil {
 		mts = append(mts, plugin.Metric{
-			Namespace:   plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "foo"),
+			Namespace:   plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "/foo=㊽"),
 			Description: "mock description",
 			Unit:        "mock unit",
 		})
 	}
 	mts = append(mts, plugin.Metric{
-		Namespace:   plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "bar"),
+		Namespace:   plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "/bar⽔"),
 		Description: "mock description",
 		Unit:        "mock unit",
 	})
 	mts = append(mts, plugin.Metric{
 		Namespace: plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock").
 			AddDynamicElement("host", "name of the host").
-			AddStaticElement("baz"),
+			AddStaticElement("/baz⽔"),
 		Description: "mock description",
 		Unit:        "mock unit",
 	})
+	mts = append(mts, plugin.Metric{
+		Namespace: plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock").
+			AddDynamicElement("host", "name of the host").
+			AddStaticElements("baz㊽", "/bar⽔"),
+		Description: "mock description",
+		Unit:        "mock unit",
+	})
+	mts = append(mts, plugin.Metric{
+		Namespace: plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock").
+			AddDynamicElement("host", "name of the host").
+			AddStaticElements("baz㊽", "|barᵹÄ☍"),
+		Description: "mock description",
+		Unit:        "mock unit",
+	})
+
 	return mts, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/plugin/collector/snap-plugin-collector-mock2-grpc/mock/mock_medium_test.go b/plugin/collector/snap-plugin-collector-mock2-grpc/mock/mock_medium_test.go
index 4d6e5a42e..f03cfe846 100644
--- a/plugin/collector/snap-plugin-collector-mock2-grpc/mock/mock_medium_test.go
+++ b/plugin/collector/snap-plugin-collector-mock2-grpc/mock/mock_medium_test.go
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ func TestGetMetricTypes(t *testing.T) {
 			mts, err := newPlg.GetMetricTypes(cfg)
 
 			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
-			So(len(mts), ShouldEqual, 4)
+			So(len(mts), ShouldEqual, 6)
 
 			Convey("checking namespaces", func() {
 				metricNames := []string{}
@@ -197,16 +197,16 @@ func TestGetMetricTypes(t *testing.T) {
 					metricNames = append(metricNames, m.Namespace.String())
 				}
 
-				ns := plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "test")
+				ns := plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "test%>")
 				So(str.Contains(metricNames, ns.String()), ShouldBeTrue)
 
-				ns = plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "foo")
+				ns = plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "/foo=㊽")
 				So(str.Contains(metricNames, ns.String()), ShouldBeTrue)
 
-				ns = plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "bar")
+				ns = plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "/bar⽔")
 				So(str.Contains(metricNames, ns.String()), ShouldBeTrue)
 
-				ns = plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock").AddDynamicElement("host", "name of the host").AddStaticElement("baz")
+				ns = plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock").AddDynamicElement("host", "name of the host").AddStaticElements("baz㊽", "/bar⽔")
 				So(str.Contains(metricNames, ns.String()), ShouldBeTrue)
 			})
 		})
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ func TestGetMetricTypes(t *testing.T) {
 			mts, err := newPlg.GetMetricTypes(plugin.Config{})
 
 			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
-			So(len(mts), ShouldEqual, 3)
+			So(len(mts), ShouldEqual, 5)
 
 			Convey("checking namespaces", func() {
 				metricNames := []string{}
@@ -223,13 +223,13 @@ func TestGetMetricTypes(t *testing.T) {
 					metricNames = append(metricNames, m.Namespace.String())
 				}
 
-				ns := plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "foo")
+				ns := plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "/foo=㊽")
 				So(str.Contains(metricNames, ns.String()), ShouldBeTrue)
 
-				ns = plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "bar")
+				ns = plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock", "/bar⽔")
 				So(str.Contains(metricNames, ns.String()), ShouldBeTrue)
 
-				ns = plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock").AddDynamicElement("host", "name of the host").AddStaticElement("baz")
+				ns = plugin.NewNamespace("intel", "mock").AddDynamicElement("host", "name of the host").AddStaticElements("baz㊽", "|barᵹÄ☍")
 				So(str.Contains(metricNames, ns.String()), ShouldBeTrue)
 			})
 		})
diff --git a/scheduler/wmap/wmap.go b/scheduler/wmap/wmap.go
index e5790c6af..56a359066 100644
--- a/scheduler/wmap/wmap.go
+++ b/scheduler/wmap/wmap.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/core/cdata"
 	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/core/ctypes"
+	"github.com/intelsdi-x/snap/pkg/stringutils"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -216,7 +217,7 @@ func (c *CollectWorkflowMapNode) GetMetrics() []Metric {
 	for k, v := range c.Metrics {
 		// Identify the character to split on by peaking
 		// at the first character of each metric.
-		firstChar := getFirstChar(k)
+		firstChar := stringutils.GetFirstChar(k)
 		ns := strings.Trim(k, firstChar)
 		metrics[i] = Metric{
 			namespace: strings.Split(ns, firstChar),
@@ -227,16 +228,6 @@ func (c *CollectWorkflowMapNode) GetMetrics() []Metric {
 	return metrics
 }
 
-// GetFirstChar returns the first character from the input string.
-func getFirstChar(s string) string {
-	firstChar := ""
-	for _, r := range s {
-		firstChar = fmt.Sprintf("%c", r)
-		break
-	}
-	return firstChar
-}
-
 func (c *CollectWorkflowMapNode) GetTags() map[string]map[string]string {
 	return c.Tags
 }