diff --git a/public/src/admin/manage/users.js b/public/src/admin/manage/users.js
index fc6d8911b1..657cfb3231 100644
--- a/public/src/admin/manage/users.js
+++ b/public/src/admin/manage/users.js
@@ -620,7 +620,7 @@ define('admin/manage/users', [
 		params.query = query.query;
 		params.page = query.page;
 		params.sortBy = params.sortBy || 'lastonline';
-		const qs = decodeURIComponent($.param(params));
+		const qs = $.param(params);
 		$.get(config.relative_path + '/api/admin/manage/users?' + qs, function (data) {
 			renderSearchResults(data);
 			const url = config.relative_path + '/admin/manage/users?' + qs;
@@ -673,7 +673,7 @@ define('admin/manage/users', [
 			delete params.searchBy;
 		}
 
-		return decodeURIComponent($.param(params));
+		return $.param(params);
 	}
 
 	function handleSort() {
diff --git a/public/src/client/login.js b/public/src/client/login.js
index ff02e7cb64..f7508b8ec2 100644
--- a/public/src/client/login.js
+++ b/public/src/client/login.js
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ define('forum/login', ['hooks', 'translator', 'jquery-form'], function (hooks, t
 					const params = utils.params({ url: data.next });
 					params.loggedin = true;
 					delete params.register; // clear register message incase it exists
-					const qs = decodeURIComponent($.param(params));
+					const qs = $.param(params);
 
 					window.location.href = pathname + '?' + qs;
 				},
diff --git a/public/src/client/register.js b/public/src/client/register.js
index d8144d26d5..f989901e7b 100644
--- a/public/src/client/register.js
+++ b/public/src/client/register.js
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ define('forum/register', [
 
 							const params = utils.params({ url: data.next });
 							params.registered = true;
-							const qs = decodeURIComponent($.param(params));
+							const qs = $.param(params);
 
 							window.location.href = pathname + '?' + qs;
 						} else if (data.message) {
diff --git a/public/src/client/search.js b/public/src/client/search.js
index 5bf52a1ef9..d2c1bb1c03 100644
--- a/public/src/client/search.js
+++ b/public/src/client/search.js
@@ -72,12 +72,12 @@ define('forum/search', [
 		let labelText = '[[search:tags]]';
 		if (selectedTags.length) {
 			labelText = translator.compile(
-				'search:tags-x', selectedTags.map(u => u.valueEscaped).join(', ')
+				'search:tags-x', selectedTags.map(u => u.value).join(', ')
 			);
 		}
 		$('[component="tag/filter/button"]').toggleClass(
 			'active-filter', isActive
-		).find('.filter-label').translateText(labelText);
+		).find('.filter-label').translateHtml(labelText);
 	}
 
 	function updateTimeFilter() {
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ define('forum/search', [
 			return {
 				value: value,
 				valueEscaped: escapedTag,
-				valueEncoded: encodeURIComponent(escapedTag),
+				valueEncoded: encodeURIComponent(value),
 				class: escapedTag.replace(/\s/g, '-'),
 			};
 		}
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ define('forum/search', [
 			result.tags = result.tags.slice(0, 20);
 			const tagMap = {};
 			result.tags.forEach((tag) => {
-				tagMap[tag.valueEscaped] = tag;
+				tagMap[tag.value] = tag;
 			});
 
 			const html = await app.parseAndTranslate('partials/search-filters', 'tagFilterResults', {
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ define('forum/search', [
 
 		el.on('click', '[component="tag/filter/delete"]', function () {
 			const deleteTag = $(this).attr('data-tag');
-			selectedTags = selectedTags.filter(tag => tag.valueEscaped !== deleteTag);
+			selectedTags = selectedTags.filter(tag => tag.value !== deleteTag);
 			renderSelectedTags();
 		});
 
diff --git a/public/src/modules/categoryFilter.js b/public/src/modules/categoryFilter.js
index 7c76182dd3..4f330be091 100644
--- a/public/src/modules/categoryFilter.js
+++ b/public/src/modules/categoryFilter.js
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ define('categoryFilter', ['categorySearch', 'api', 'hooks'], function (categoryS
 
 				delete currentParams.page;
 				if (Object.keys(currentParams).length) {
-					url += '?' + decodeURIComponent($.param(currentParams));
+					url += '?' + $.param(currentParams);
 				}
 				ajaxify.go(url);
 			}
diff --git a/public/src/modules/search.js b/public/src/modules/search.js
index aedaa8380f..abf3343ac0 100644
--- a/public/src/modules/search.js
+++ b/public/src/modules/search.js
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ define('search', [
 			data: data,
 		});
 
-		return decodeURIComponent($.param(query));
+		return $.param(query);
 	}
 
 	Search.getSearchPreferences = function () {
diff --git a/public/src/modules/sort.js b/public/src/modules/sort.js
index 2fcbb67897..0482cff837 100644
--- a/public/src/modules/sort.js
+++ b/public/src/modules/sort.js
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ define('sort', ['components'], function (components) {
 				const newSetting = $(this).attr('data-sort');
 				const urlParams = utils.params();
 				urlParams.sort = newSetting;
-				const qs = decodeURIComponent($.param(urlParams));
+				const qs = $.param(urlParams);
 				ajaxify.go(gotoOnSave + (qs ? '?' + qs : ''));
 			});
 	};
diff --git a/public/src/modules/tagFilter.js b/public/src/modules/tagFilter.js
index ea8f8f887f..25df586d23 100644
--- a/public/src/modules/tagFilter.js
+++ b/public/src/modules/tagFilter.js
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ define('tagFilter', ['hooks', 'alerts', 'bootstrap'], function (hooks, alerts, b
 				}
 				delete currentParams.page;
 				if (Object.keys(currentParams).length) {
-					url += '?' + decodeURIComponent($.param(currentParams));
+					url += '?' + $.param(currentParams);
 				}
 				ajaxify.go(url);
 			}
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ define('tagFilter', ['hooks', 'alerts', 'bootstrap'], function (hooks, alerts, b
 		function renderList(tags) {
 			const selectedTags = options.selectedTags;
 			tags.forEach(function (tag) {
-				tag.selected = selectedTags.includes(tag.valueEscaped);
+				tag.selected = selectedTags.includes(tag.value);
 			});
 
 			app.parseAndTranslate(options.template, {
diff --git a/public/src/overrides.js b/public/src/overrides.js
index f933f5f7ec..73c497d108 100644
--- a/public/src/overrides.js
+++ b/public/src/overrides.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ window.overrides = window.overrides || {};
 
 function translate(elements, type, str) {
 	return elements.each(function () {
-		var el = $(this);
+		const el = $(this);
 		translator.translate(str, function (translated) {
 			el[type](translated);
 		});
diff --git a/src/controllers/helpers.js b/src/controllers/helpers.js
index 494bae0e34..a6ade8c73b 100644
--- a/src/controllers/helpers.js
+++ b/src/controllers/helpers.js
@@ -362,11 +362,11 @@ helpers.getSelectedTag = function (tags) {
 		tags = [tags];
 	}
 	tags = tags || [];
-	const tagData = tags.map(t => validator.escape(String(t)));
+	const tagData = tags.map(t => String(t));
 	let selectedTag = null;
 	if (tagData.length) {
 		selectedTag = {
-			label: tagData.join(', '),
+			label: validator.escape(tagData.join(', ')),
 		};
 	}
 	return {
diff --git a/src/controllers/tags.js b/src/controllers/tags.js
index c411aad90a..e5806c87d2 100644
--- a/src/controllers/tags.js
+++ b/src/controllers/tags.js
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ tagsController.getTag = async function (req, res) {
 	const stop = start + settings.topicsPerPage - 1;
 
 	const [topicCount, tids] = await Promise.all([
-		topics.getTagTopicCount(tag, cids),
-		topics.getTagTidsByCids(tag, cids, start, stop),
+		topics.getTagTopicCount(req.params.tag, cids),
+		topics.getTagTidsByCids(req.params.tag, cids, start, stop),
 	]);
 
 	templateData.topics = await topics.getTopics(tids, req.uid);
diff --git a/src/topics/data.js b/src/topics/data.js
index e9a281ecaa..d411cbf329 100644
--- a/src/topics/data.js
+++ b/src/topics/data.js
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ function modifyTopic(topic, fields) {
 			return {
 				value: tag,
 				valueEscaped: escaped,
-				valueEncoded: encodeURIComponent(escaped),
+				valueEncoded: encodeURIComponent(tag),
 				class: escaped.replace(/\s/g, '-'),
 			};
 		});
diff --git a/src/topics/tags.js b/src/topics/tags.js
index 80fea5e6c6..0df806c34d 100644
--- a/src/topics/tags.js
+++ b/src/topics/tags.js
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ module.exports = function (Topics) {
 		}
 		tags.forEach((tag) => {
 			tag.valueEscaped = validator.escape(String(tag.value));
-			tag.valueEncoded = encodeURIComponent(tag.valueEscaped);
+			tag.valueEncoded = encodeURIComponent(tag.value);
 			tag.class = tag.valueEscaped.replace(/\s/g, '-');
 		});
 		return tags;
diff --git a/test/topics.js b/test/topics.js
index 366a7f85bc..dcea6ccd09 100644
--- a/test/topics.js
+++ b/test/topics.js
@@ -1432,6 +1432,7 @@ describe('Topic\'s', () => {
 		before(async () => {
 			await topics.post({ uid: adminUid, tags: ['php', 'nosql', 'psql', 'nodebb', 'node icon'], title: 'topic title 1', content: 'topic 1 content', cid: topic.categoryId });
 			await topics.post({ uid: adminUid, tags: ['javascript', 'mysql', 'python', 'nodejs'], title: 'topic title 2', content: 'topic 2 content', cid: topic.categoryId });
+			await topics.post({ uid: adminUid, tags: ['signal & slot', 'node & c++'], title: 'topic title 3', content: 'topic 3 content', cid: topic.categoryId });
 		});
 
 		it('should return empty array if query is falsy', (done) => {
@@ -1483,10 +1484,11 @@ describe('Topic\'s', () => {
 		it('should search and load tags', (done) => {
 			socketTopics.searchAndLoadTags({ uid: adminUid }, { query: 'no' }, (err, data) => {
 				assert.ifError(err);
-				assert.equal(data.matchCount, 4);
+				assert.equal(data.matchCount, 5);
 				assert.equal(data.pageCount, 1);
 				const tagData = [
 					{ value: 'nodebb', valueEscaped: 'nodebb', valueEncoded: 'nodebb', score: 3, class: 'nodebb' },
+					{ value: 'node & c++', valueEscaped: 'node & c++', valueEncoded: 'node%20%26%20c%2B%2B', score: 1, class: 'node-&-c++' },
 					{ value: 'node icon', valueEscaped: 'node icon', valueEncoded: 'node%20icon', score: 1, class: 'node-icon' },
 					{ value: 'nodejs', valueEscaped: 'nodejs', valueEncoded: 'nodejs', score: 1, class: 'nodejs' },
 					{ value: 'nosql', valueEscaped: 'nosql', valueEncoded: 'nosql', score: 1, class: 'nosql' },