diff --git a/extensions/git/package.json b/extensions/git/package.json
index 414c360f5f1..71a59270211 100644
--- a/extensions/git/package.json
+++ b/extensions/git/package.json
@@ -936,6 +936,16 @@
             "usesOnlineServices"
           ]
         },
+        "git.branchValidationRegex": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "description": "%config.branchValidationRegex%",
+          "default": ""
+        },
+        "git.branchWhitespaceChar": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "description": "%config.branchWhitespaceChar%",
+          "default": "-"
+        },
         "git.confirmSync": {
           "type": "boolean",
           "description": "%config.confirmSync%",
diff --git a/extensions/git/package.nls.json b/extensions/git/package.nls.json
index 546bea28b64..2887582e89f 100644
--- a/extensions/git/package.nls.json
+++ b/extensions/git/package.nls.json
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@
 	"config.checkoutType.local": "Show only local branches.",
 	"config.checkoutType.tags": "Show only tags.",
 	"config.checkoutType.remote": "Show only remote branches.",
+	"config.branchValidationRegex": "A regular expression to validate new branch names.",
+	"config.branchWhitespaceChar": "The character to replace whitespace in new branch names.",
 	"config.ignoreLegacyWarning": "Ignores the legacy Git warning.",
 	"config.ignoreMissingGitWarning": "Ignores the warning when Git is missing.",
 	"config.ignoreLimitWarning": "Ignores the warning when there are too many changes in a repository.",
diff --git a/extensions/git/src/commands.ts b/extensions/git/src/commands.ts
index df2100f50c2..59225dd6f46 100644
--- a/extensions/git/src/commands.ts
+++ b/extensions/git/src/commands.ts
@@ -1261,19 +1261,42 @@ export class CommandCenter {
 		await choice.run(repository);
 	}
 
+
 	@command('git.branch', { repository: true })
 	async branch(repository: Repository): Promise<void> {
+		const config = workspace.getConfiguration('git');
+		const branchValidationRegex = config.get<string>('branchValidationRegex')!;
+		const branchWhitespaceChar = config.get<string>('branchWhitespaceChar')!;
+		const validateName = new RegExp(branchValidationRegex);
+		const sanitize = (name: string) => {
+			name = name.trim();
+
+			if (!name) {
+				return name;
+			}
+
+			return name.replace(/^\.|\/\.|\.\.|~|\^|:|\/$|\.lock$|\.lock\/|\\|\*|\s|^\s*$|\.|\[|\]$/g, branchWhitespaceChar);
+		};
+
 		const result = await window.showInputBox({
 			placeHolder: localize('branch name', "Branch name"),
 			prompt: localize('provide branch name', "Please provide a branch name"),
-			ignoreFocusOut: true
+			ignoreFocusOut: true,
+			validateInput: (name: string) => {
+				if (validateName.test(sanitize(name))) {
+					return null;
+				}
+
+				return localize('branch name format invalid', "Branch name needs to match regex: {0}", branchValidationRegex);
+			}
 		});
 
-		if (!result) {
+		const name = sanitize(result || '');
+
+		if (!name) {
 			return;
 		}
 
-		const name = result.replace(/^\.|\/\.|\.\.|~|\^|:|\/$|\.lock$|\.lock\/|\\|\*|\s|^\s*$|\.|\[|\]|$/g, '-');
 		await repository.branch(name, true);
 	}