diff --git a/scripts/utils.ts b/scripts/utils.ts
index 891f7ad6e5..029b06bb76 100644
--- a/scripts/utils.ts
+++ b/scripts/utils.ts
@@ -46,11 +46,22 @@ export function normalizeURL(url: string): string {
     return url.replace(/\s/g, '+')
   }
 
+  let decoded: string
   try {
-    return decodeURIComponent(normalized).replace(/\s/g, '+')
+    // decodeURI keeps escapes like %2F, %3F and %23, which would change the URL if decoded
+    decoded = decodeURI(normalized)
   } catch {
-    return normalized.replace(/\s/g, '+')
+    decoded = normalized
   }
+
+  // "+" means a space only in the query; in the path it is a plus sign
+  const queryStart = decoded.indexOf('?')
+  if (queryStart === -1) return decoded.replace(/\s/g, '%20')
+
+  return (
+    decoded.slice(0, queryStart).replace(/\s/g, '%20') +
+    decoded.slice(queryStart).replace(/\s/g, '+')
+  )
 }
 
 function isInsideDirectory(rootDir: string, target: string): boolean {
diff --git a/tests/__data__/input/playlist_normalize/reserved_escapes.m3u b/tests/__data__/input/playlist_normalize/reserved_escapes.m3u
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..592ffd05b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/__data__/input/playlist_normalize/reserved_escapes.m3u
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#EXTM3U
+#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="",Example Path Space (720p)
+http://example.com/TVP%20Wilno%20HD/index.m3u8
+#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="",Example Path Slash (720p)
+http://example.com/a%2Fb/index.m3u8
+#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="",Example Query Hash (720p)
+http://example.com/index.m3u8?id=1%232
diff --git a/tests/commands/playlist/format.test.ts b/tests/commands/playlist/format.test.ts
index feeed80fd6..c3f9b0b825 100644
--- a/tests/commands/playlist/format.test.ts
+++ b/tests/commands/playlist/format.test.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,20 @@ describe('playlist:format', () => {
       'http://example.com/a%ZZ'
     )
   })
+
+  it('keeps percent escapes whose decoding would change the link', () => {
+    fs.emptyDirSync('tests/__data__/output')
+    fs.copySync('tests/__data__/input/playlist_normalize', 'tests/__data__/output/streams')
+
+    const cmd =
+      'cross-env STREAMS_DIR=tests/__data__/output/streams DATA_DIR=tests/__data__/input/data npm run playlist:format'
+    execSync(cmd, { encoding: 'utf8' })
+
+    const output = content('tests/__data__/output/streams/reserved_escapes.m3u')
+    expect(output).toContain('http://example.com/TVP%20Wilno%20HD/index.m3u8')
+    expect(output).toContain('http://example.com/a%2Fb/index.m3u8')
+    expect(output).toContain('http://example.com/index.m3u8?id=1%232')
+  })
 })
 
 function content(filepath: string) {