diff --git a/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/image_save.cc b/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/image_save.cc
index 87d113ea1c3..0cbfece36ef 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/image_save.cc
+++ b/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/image_save.cc
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ bool BKE_image_save_options_init(ImageSaveOptions *opts,
       }
       else {
         BLI_path_join(opts->filepath, sizeof(opts->filepath), "//", ima->id.name + 2);
-        BLI_path_make_safe(opts->filepath);
+        BLI_path_make_safe_filename(opts->filepath + 2);
         BLI_path_abs(opts->filepath,
                      is_prev_save ? G.filepath_last_image : BKE_main_blendfile_path(bmain));
       }
diff --git a/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_path_utils.hh b/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_path_utils.hh
index d59b81f75e3..f8b16299acf 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_path_utils.hh
+++ b/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_path_utils.hh
@@ -98,6 +98,11 @@ const char *BLI_path_parent_dir_end(const char *path, size_t path_len)
  * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename#Reserved_characters_and_words )
  * by underscores ('_').
  *
+ * \note This should only be used when creating new paths from user-input or
+ * to sanitize a file-names initialized from non-path text such as the name of a data-block.
+ * It must never be used on references to existing paths since this function
+ * will change the paths causing them to become invalid.
+ *
  * \note Space case ' ' is a bit of an edge case here - in theory it is allowed,
  * but again can be an issue in some cases, so we simply replace it by an underscore too
  * (good practice anyway).
@@ -118,6 +123,10 @@ bool BLI_path_make_safe_filename(char *filename) ATTR_NONNULL(1);
  * Make given path OS-safe.
  *
  * \return true if \a path was changed, false otherwise.
+ *
+ * \note When the file-name component of the path may not use safe characters,
+ * #BLI_path_make_safe_filename should be used on the file-name part,
+ * so slashes are replaced, treating the text as a single file-name.
  */
 bool BLI_path_make_safe(char *path) ATTR_NONNULL(1);