diff --git a/internal/exporter/export.go b/internal/exporter/export.go
index 1825974fd..d8069ad60 100644
--- a/internal/exporter/export.go
+++ b/internal/exporter/export.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
+	"unicode"
 
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	"github.com/google/mtail/internal/metrics"
@@ -154,6 +155,32 @@ func (e *Exporter) SetOption(options ...Option) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// sanitizeLabel replaces whitespace and control characters in a label key or
+// value with rep. Label values are derived from log line contents (for example
+// an HTTP User-Agent captured with [[:print:]]+, or getfilename()), so a space
+// or newline in that data would otherwise split a graphite/statsd/collectd line
+// into extra fields or a whole extra record, letting a crafted log line spoof or
+// inject metrics on the wire. The separator replacement above only covers ksep
+// and sep, so these characters have to be handled here as well.
+func sanitizeLabel(s, rep string) string {
+	if strings.IndexFunc(s, isUnsafeLabelRune) < 0 {
+		return s
+	}
+	var b strings.Builder
+	for _, r := range s {
+		if isUnsafeLabelRune(r) {
+			b.WriteString(rep)
+			continue
+		}
+		b.WriteRune(r)
+	}
+	return b.String()
+}
+
+func isUnsafeLabelRune(r rune) bool {
+	return unicode.IsControl(r) || unicode.IsSpace(r)
+}
+
 // formatLabels converts a metric name and key-value map of labels to a single
 // string for exporting to the correct output format for each export target.
 // ksep and sep mark what to use for key/val separator, and between label separators respoectively.
@@ -168,8 +195,8 @@ func formatLabels(name string, m map[string]string, ksep, sep, rep string) strin
 		sort.Strings(keys)
 		var s []string
 		for _, k := range keys {
-			k1 := strings.ReplaceAll(strings.ReplaceAll(k, ksep, rep), sep, rep)
-			v1 := strings.ReplaceAll(strings.ReplaceAll(m[k], ksep, rep), sep, rep)
+			k1 := sanitizeLabel(strings.ReplaceAll(strings.ReplaceAll(k, ksep, rep), sep, rep), rep)
+			v1 := sanitizeLabel(strings.ReplaceAll(strings.ReplaceAll(m[k], ksep, rep), sep, rep), rep)
 			s = append(s, fmt.Sprintf("%s%s%s", k1, ksep, v1))
 		}
 		return r + sep + strings.Join(s, sep)
diff --git a/internal/exporter/export_test.go b/internal/exporter/export_test.go
index 317cbba06..a3d7d9cee 100644
--- a/internal/exporter/export_test.go
+++ b/internal/exporter/export_test.go
@@ -160,6 +160,33 @@ func TestMetricToGraphite(t *testing.T) {
 	testutil.ExpectNoDiff(t, expected, r)
 }
 
+func TestFormatLabelsSanitizesWhitespace(t *testing.T) {
+	*graphitePrefix = ""
+	ts, terr := time.Parse("2006/01/02 15:04:05", "2012/07/24 10:14:00")
+	if terr != nil {
+		t.Errorf("time parse error: %s", terr)
+	}
+
+	// A label value derived from a log line (e.g. an HTTP User-Agent) that
+	// carries a space and an embedded newline must not split the graphite line
+	// into extra fields or an injected second record.
+	m := metrics.NewMetric("bar", "prog", metrics.Gauge, metrics.Int, "ua")
+	d, _ := m.GetDatum("Mozilla 5.0\ninjected.metric 999 1")
+	datum.SetInt(d, 37, ts)
+	r := FakeSocketWrite(metricToGraphite, m)
+	expected := []string{"prog.bar.ua.Mozilla_5_0_injected_metric_999_1 37 1343124840\n"}
+	testutil.ExpectNoDiff(t, expected, r)
+	for _, line := range r {
+		if strings.Count(line, "\n") != 1 {
+			t.Errorf("graphite line contains injected record: %q", line)
+		}
+		path := strings.SplitN(line, " ", 2)[0]
+		if strings.ContainsAny(path, " \t\r\n") {
+			t.Errorf("graphite metric path contains whitespace: %q", line)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestMetricToStatsd(t *testing.T) {
 	*statsdPrefix = ""
 	ts, terr := time.Parse("2006/01/02 15:04:05", "2012/07/24 10:14:00")