diff --git a/src/portable/portable.c b/src/portable/portable.c
index df505bbe2d..a7f3ce9dfd 100644
--- a/src/portable/portable.c
+++ b/src/portable/portable.c
@@ -1382,9 +1382,19 @@ static int append_release_log_fields(
 
         /* Find an ID first, in order of preference from more specific to less specific: IMAGE_ID -> ID */
         id = strv_find_first_field((char *const *)field_ids[type], fields);
+        if (id && string_has_cc(id, /* ok= */ NULL)) {
+                log_debug("os-release file '%s' contains control characters in the ID field, skipping.",
+                          release->name);
+                id = NULL;
+        }
 
         /* Then the version, same logic, prefer the more specific one */
         version = strv_find_first_field((char *const *)field_versions[type], fields);
+        if (version && string_has_cc(version, /* ok= */ NULL)) {
+                log_debug("os-release file '%s' contains control characters in the version field, skipping.",
+                          release->name);
+                version = NULL;
+        }
 
         /* If there's no valid version to be found, simply omit it. */
         if (!id && !version)