diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/Template.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/Template.cs
index 2a2f59d132..25347fd861 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/Template.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/Template.cs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ using System.Runtime.Serialization;
 using Umbraco.Core.Configuration;
 using Umbraco.Core.IO;
 using Umbraco.Core.Models.EntityBase;
+using Umbraco.Core.Strings;
 
 namespace Umbraco.Core.Models
 {
@@ -42,8 +43,8 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Models
         {
             base.Path = path;
             ParentId = -1;
-            _name = name.Replace("/", ".").Replace("\\", "");
-            _alias = alias.ToSafeAlias();
+            _name = name; //.Replace("/", ".").Replace("\\", ""); // why? that's just the name!
+            _alias = alias.ToCleanString(CleanStringType.UnderscoreAlias);
         }
 
         [DataMember]
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/CleanStringType.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/CleanStringType.cs
index ea9603ec6f..0e0a7c9908 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/CleanStringType.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/CleanStringType.cs
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Strings
         /// <summary>
         /// Flag mask for role.
         /// </summary>
-        RoleMask = UrlSegment | Alias | FileName | ConvertCase,
+        RoleMask = UrlSegment | Alias | UnderscoreAlias | FileName | ConvertCase,
 
         /// <summary>
         ///  Url role.
@@ -112,6 +112,12 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Strings
         /// <summary>
         /// ConvertCase role.
         /// </summary>
-        ConvertCase = 0x080000
+        ConvertCase = 0x080000,
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// UnderscoreAlias role.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <remarks>This is Alias + leading underscore.</remarks>
+        UnderscoreAlias = 0x100000
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/DefaultShortStringHelper.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/DefaultShortStringHelper.cs
index 508e356f71..879f4f0115 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/DefaultShortStringHelper.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/DefaultShortStringHelper.cs
@@ -193,6 +193,12 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Strings
                     : (char.IsLetterOrDigit(c) || c == '_'), // letter, digit or underscore
                 StringType = CleanStringType.Ascii | CleanStringType.UmbracoCase,
                 BreakTermsOnUpper = false
+            }).WithConfig(CleanStringType.UnderscoreAlias, new Config
+            {
+                PreFilter = ApplyUrlReplaceCharacters,
+                IsTerm = (c, leading) => char.IsLetterOrDigit(c) || c == '_', // letter, digit or underscore
+                StringType = CleanStringType.Ascii | CleanStringType.UmbracoCase,
+                BreakTermsOnUpper = false
             }).WithConfig(CleanStringType.ConvertCase, new Config
             {
                 PreFilter = null,
diff --git a/src/umbraco.cms/businesslogic/template/Template.cs b/src/umbraco.cms/businesslogic/template/Template.cs
index 38a05adbf2..08f6e5d5e3 100644
--- a/src/umbraco.cms/businesslogic/template/Template.cs
+++ b/src/umbraco.cms/businesslogic/template/Template.cs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ using Umbraco.Core;
 using Umbraco.Core.Cache;
 using Umbraco.Core.IO;
 using Umbraco.Core.Logging;
+using Umbraco.Core.Strings;
 using umbraco.DataLayer;
 using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
 using System.IO;
@@ -204,7 +205,7 @@ namespace umbraco.cms.businesslogic.template
             {
                 FlushCache();
                 _oldAlias = _alias;
-                _alias = value;
+                _alias = value.ToCleanString(CleanStringType.UnderscoreAlias);
 
                 SqlHelper.ExecuteNonQuery("Update cmsTemplate set alias = @alias where NodeId = " + this.Id, SqlHelper.CreateParameter("@alias", _alias));
                 _templateAliasesInitialized = false;
@@ -402,13 +403,13 @@ namespace umbraco.cms.businesslogic.template
             var node = MakeNew(-1, ObjectType, u.Id, 1, name, Guid.NewGuid());
 
             //ensure unique alias 
-            name = helpers.Casing.SafeAlias(name);
+            name = name.ToCleanString(CleanStringType.UnderscoreAlias);
             if (GetByAlias(name) != null)
                 name = EnsureUniqueAlias(name, 1);
-            name = name.Replace("/", ".").Replace("\\", "");
+            //name = name.Replace("/", ".").Replace("\\", ""); //why? ToSafeAlias() already removes those chars
 
             if (name.Length > 100)
-                name = name.Substring(0, 95) + "...";
+                name = name.Substring(0, 95); // + "..."; // no, these are invalid alias chars
 
           
             SqlHelper.ExecuteNonQuery("INSERT INTO cmsTemplate (NodeId, Alias, design, master) VALUES (@nodeId, @alias, @design, @master)",