diff --git a/backend/drive/drive.go b/backend/drive/drive.go
index cca4245c3..93fab7f8d 100644
--- a/backend/drive/drive.go
+++ b/backend/drive/drive.go
@@ -3431,7 +3431,7 @@ func (f *Fs) Command(ctx context.Context, name string, arg []string, opt map[str
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		re := regexp.MustCompile(`[^\w_. -]+`)
+		re := regexp.MustCompile(`[^\w\p{L}\p{N}. -]+`)
 		if _, ok := opt["config"]; ok {
 			lines := []string{}
 			upstreams := []string{}
diff --git a/docs/content/docs.md b/docs/content/docs.md
index d984970b5..eab4b5b29 100644
--- a/docs/content/docs.md
+++ b/docs/content/docs.md
@@ -338,10 +338,18 @@ Will get their own names
 ### Valid remote names
 
 Remote names are case sensitive, and must adhere to the following rules:
- - May only contain `0`-`9`, `A`-`Z`, `a`-`z`, `_`, `-`, `.` and space.
+ - May contain number, letter, `_`, `-`, `.` and space.
  - May not start with `-` or space.
  - May not end with space.
 
+Starting with rclone version 1.61, any Unicode numbers and letters are allowed,
+while in older versions it was limited to plain ASCII (0-9, A-Z, a-z). If you use
+the same rclone configuration from different shells, which may be configured with
+different character encoding, you must be cautious to use characters that are
+possible to write in all of them. This is mostly a problem on Windows, where
+the console traditionally uses a non-Unicode character set - defined
+by the so-called "code page".
+
 Quoting and the shell
 ---------------------
 
diff --git a/fs/fspath/path.go b/fs/fspath/path.go
index a29b0e363..a9dd858d1 100644
--- a/fs/fspath/path.go
+++ b/fs/fspath/path.go
@@ -13,11 +13,11 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	configNameRe = `[\w.-]+(?: +[\w.-]+)*`
+	configNameRe = `[\w\p{L}\p{N}.-]+(?: +[\w\p{L}\p{N}.-]+)*`
 )
 
 var (
-	errInvalidCharacters = errors.New("config name contains invalid characters - may only contain `0-9`, `A-Z`, `a-z`, `_`, `-`, `.` and space, while not start or end with space")
+	errInvalidCharacters = errors.New("config name contains invalid characters - may only contain numbers, letters, `_`, `-`, `.` and space, while not start or end with space")
 	errCantBeEmpty       = errors.New("can't use empty string as a path")
 	errCantStartWithDash = errors.New("config name starts with `-`")
 	errBadConfigParam    = errors.New("config parameters may only contain `0-9`, `A-Z`, `a-z` and `_`")
diff --git a/fs/fspath/path_test.go b/fs/fspath/path_test.go
index 9d80ec4a8..6c4ac754d 100644
--- a/fs/fspath/path_test.go
+++ b/fs/fspath/path_test.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ func TestCheckConfigName(t *testing.T) {
 		want error
 	}{
 		{"remote", nil},
+		{"REMOTE", nil},
 		{"", errInvalidCharacters},
 		{":remote:", errInvalidCharacters},
 		{"remote:", errInvalidCharacters},
@@ -38,6 +39,8 @@ func TestCheckConfigName(t *testing.T) {
 		{"..", nil},
 		{".r.e.m.o.t.e.", nil},
 		{"rem ote", nil},
+		{"blåbær", nil},
+		{"chữ Quốc ngữ", nil},
 		{"remote ", errInvalidCharacters},
 		{" remote", errInvalidCharacters},
 		{" remote ", errInvalidCharacters},
@@ -53,6 +56,7 @@ func TestCheckRemoteName(t *testing.T) {
 		want error
 	}{
 		{":remote:", nil},
+		{":REMOTE:", nil},
 		{":s3:", nil},
 		{"remote:", nil},
 		{".:", nil},
@@ -60,6 +64,8 @@ func TestCheckRemoteName(t *testing.T) {
 		{".r.e.m.o.t.e.:", nil},
 		{"-r-emote-:", nil},
 		{"rem ote:", nil},
+		{"blåbær:", nil},
+		{"chữ Quốc ngữ:", nil},
 		{"remote :", errInvalidCharacters},
 		{" remote:", errInvalidCharacters},
 		{" remote :", errInvalidCharacters},