diff --git a/task_test.go b/task_test.go
index 540e7ba8de..c3ceb86769 100644
--- a/task_test.go
+++ b/task_test.go
@@ -3417,6 +3417,16 @@ func TestWildcard(t *testing.T) {
 			call:           "wildcard-foo-bar",
 			expectedOutput: "Hello foo-bar\n",
 		},
+		{
+			name:           "regex metacharacters are matched literally",
+			call:           "c++",
+			expectedOutput: "Building c++\n",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "a dot is not a wildcard",
+			call:    "deploy-prod",
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range tests {
diff --git a/taskfile/ast/task.go b/taskfile/ast/task.go
index 9465c77770..e3bb0cf08b 100644
--- a/taskfile/ast/task.go
+++ b/taskfile/ast/task.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package ast
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -87,23 +86,24 @@ func (t *Task) WildcardMatch(name string) (bool, []string) {
 	names := append([]string{t.Task}, t.Aliases...)
 
 	for _, taskName := range names {
-		regexStr := fmt.Sprintf("^%s$", strings.ReplaceAll(taskName, "*", "(.*)"))
-		regex := regexp.MustCompile(regexStr)
-		wildcards := regex.FindStringSubmatch(name)
-
-		if len(wildcards) == 0 {
+		// Without a wildcard the name is a plain string, so skip building a regex
+		if !strings.Contains(taskName, "*") {
+			if taskName == name {
+				return true, nil
+			}
 			continue
 		}
 
-		// Remove the first match, which is the full string
-		wildcards = wildcards[1:]
-		wildcardCount := strings.Count(taskName, "*")
+		// Escape the task name so a name like "c++" or "a.b" is matched literally
+		// and does not panic in MustCompile, then turn the escaped "*" back into
+		// the wildcard group
+		pattern := strings.ReplaceAll(regexp.QuoteMeta(taskName), `\*`, "(.*)")
+		regex := regexp.MustCompile("^" + pattern + "$")
+		wildcards := regex.FindStringSubmatch(name)
 
-		if len(wildcards) != wildcardCount {
-			continue
+		if len(wildcards) > 1 {
+			return true, wildcards[1:]
 		}
-
-		return true, wildcards
 	}
 
 	return false, nil
diff --git a/testdata/wildcards/Taskfile.yml b/testdata/wildcards/Taskfile.yml
index 0ec2ae2895..e152876c01 100644
--- a/testdata/wildcards/Taskfile.yml
+++ b/testdata/wildcards/Taskfile.yml
@@ -25,3 +25,12 @@ tasks:
       SERVICE: "{{index .MATCH 0}}"
     cmds:
       - echo "Starting {{.SERVICE}}"
+
+  # Regex metacharacters in a task name must be matched literally
+  c++:
+    cmds:
+      - echo "Building c++"
+
+  deploy.prod:
+    cmds:
+      - echo "Deploying prod"