diff --git a/internal/feed/rss.go b/internal/feed/rss.go
index bee9208..8f5552d 100644
--- a/internal/feed/rss.go
+++ b/internal/feed/rss.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/autobrr/autobrr/internal/proxy"
 	"github.com/autobrr/autobrr/internal/release"
 	"github.com/autobrr/autobrr/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/autobrr/autobrr/pkg/sanitize"
 
 	"github.com/dustin/go-humanize"
 	"github.com/mmcdole/gofeed"
@@ -148,7 +149,7 @@ func (j *RSSJob) processItem(item *gofeed.Item) *domain.Release {
 	}
 
 	if rls.DownloadURL == "" && item.Link != "" {
-		rls.DownloadURL = item.Link
+		rls.DownloadURL = sanitize.URLEncoding(item.Link)
 	}
 
 	if rls.DownloadURL != "" {
@@ -158,8 +159,8 @@ func (j *RSSJob) processItem(item *gofeed.Item) *domain.Release {
 			if parentURL, _ := url.Parse(j.URL); parentURL != nil {
 				parentURL.Path, parentURL.RawPath = "", ""
 
-				// unescape the query params for max compatibility
-				escapedUrl, _ := url.QueryUnescape(parentURL.JoinPath(rls.DownloadURL).String())
+				downloadURL := sanitize.URLEncoding(rls.DownloadURL)
+				escapedUrl, _ := url.QueryUnescape(parentURL.JoinPath(downloadURL).String())
 				rls.DownloadURL = escapedUrl
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/internal/feed/rss_test.go b/internal/feed/rss_test.go
index ee3d70b..c9ce84b 100644
--- a/internal/feed/rss_test.go
+++ b/internal/feed/rss_test.go
@@ -452,6 +452,96 @@ func TestRSSJob_processItem(t *testing.T) {
 				ActionStatus:                    []domain.ReleaseActionStatus(nil),
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "unicode_escaped_url_chars",
+			fields: fields{
+				Feed: &domain.Feed{
+					MaxAge: 3600,
+					Indexer: domain.IndexerMinimal{
+						ID:                 0,
+						Name:               "Mock Feed",
+						Identifier:         "mock-feed",
+						IdentifierExternal: "Mock Indexer",
+					},
+				},
+				Name:       "test feed",
+				Log:        zerolog.Logger{},
+				URL:        "https://fake-feed.com/rss",
+				Repo:       nil,
+				ReleaseSvc: nil,
+				attempts:   0,
+				errors:     nil,
+				JobID:      0,
+			},
+			args: args{item: &gofeed.Item{
+				Title: "Some.Release.Title.2022.09.22.720p.WEB.h264-GROUP",
+				Description: `Category: Example
+ Size: 1.49 GB`,
+				Link: "https://fake-feed.com\u002fdownload.php\u003fid\u003d00000\u0026hit\u003d1\u0026type\u003dtorrent\u0026name\u003dSome%20Movie%20Title\u0026hash\u003dabc123\u0040group\u003aname\u0023section\u0025test\u002bextra",
+				GUID: "Some.Release.Title.2022.09.22.720p.WEB.h264-GROUP",
+			}},
+			want: &domain.Release{
+				ID:                              0,
+				FilterStatus:                    "PENDING",
+				Rejections:                      []string{},
+				Indexer:                         domain.IndexerMinimal{0, "Mock Feed", "mock-feed", "Mock Indexer"},
+				FilterName:                      "",
+				Protocol:                        "torrent",
+				Implementation:                  "RSS",
+				AnnounceType:                    domain.AnnounceTypeNew,
+				Timestamp:                       now,
+				GroupID:                         "",
+				TorrentID:                       "",
+				DownloadURL:                     "https://fake-feed.com/download.php?id=00000&hit=1&type=torrent&name=Some%20Movie%20Title&hash=abc123@group:name#section%test+extra",
+				TorrentTmpFile:                  "",
+				TorrentDataRawBytes:             []uint8(nil),
+				TorrentHash:                     "",
+				TorrentName:                     "Some.Release.Title.2022.09.22.720p.WEB.h264-GROUP",
+				NormalizedHash:                  "edfbe552ccde335f34b801e15930bc35",
+				Size:                            1490000000,
+				Title:                           "Some Release Title",
+				Description:                     "Category: Example\n Size: 1.49 GB",
+				Category:                        "",
+				Season:                          0,
+				Episode:                         0,
+				Year:                            2022,
+				Month:                           9,
+				Day:                             22,
+				Resolution:                      "720p",
+				Source:                          "WEB",
+				Codec:                           []string{"H.264"},
+				Container:                       "",
+				HDR:                             []string(nil),
+				Audio:                           []string(nil),
+				AudioChannels:                   "",
+				Group:                           "GROUP",
+				Region:                          "",
+				Language:                        []string{},
+				Proper:                          false,
+				Repack:                          false,
+				Edition:                         []string{},
+				Cut:                             []string{},
+				Website:                         "",
+				Artists:                         "",
+				Type:                            rls.Episode,
+				LogScore:                        0,
+				Origin:                          "",
+				Tags:                            []string{},
+				ReleaseTags:                     "",
+				Freeleech:                       false,
+				FreeleechPercent:                0,
+				Bonus:                           []string(nil),
+				Uploader:                        "",
+				PreTime:                         "",
+				Other:                           []string{},
+				RawCookie:                       "",
+				AdditionalSizeCheckRequired:     false,
+				AdditionalUploaderCheckRequired: false,
+				FilterID:                        0,
+				Filter:                          (*domain.Filter)(nil),
+				ActionStatus:                    []domain.ReleaseActionStatus(nil),
+			},
+		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/sanitize/sanitize.go b/pkg/sanitize/sanitize.go
index d320225..2ef5fe4 100644
--- a/pkg/sanitize/sanitize.go
+++ b/pkg/sanitize/sanitize.go
@@ -12,6 +12,30 @@ func String(str string) string {
 	return str
 }
 
+func URLEncoding(str string) string {
+	replacements := []struct {
+		old string
+		new string
+	}{
+		{`\u0026`, "&"},
+		{`\u003d`, "="},
+		{`\u003f`, "?"},
+		{`\u002f`, "/"},
+		{`\u003a`, ":"},
+		{`\u0023`, "#"},
+		{`\u0040`, "@"},
+		{`\u0025`, "%"},
+		{`\u002b`, "+"},
+	}
+
+	for _, r := range replacements {
+		str = repeatedReplaceAll(str, r.old, r.new)
+	}
+
+	str = strings.TrimSpace(str)
+	return str
+}
+
 func FilterString(str string) string {
 	// replace newline with comma
 	str = strings.ReplaceAll(str, "\r", ",")