diff --git a/web/src/lib/musicbrainz.test.ts b/web/src/lib/musicbrainz.test.ts
index a322c23..bd3fb3f 100644
--- a/web/src/lib/musicbrainz.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/lib/musicbrainz.test.ts
@@ -47,4 +47,13 @@ describe("musicbrainz module", () => {
     vi.stubGlobal("fetch", vi.fn(() => jsonResponse({ "release-groups": [] })));
     expect(await searchReleaseGroup("Nobody", "Nothing")).toBeNull();
   });
+
+  it("escapes quotes in the release-group query", async () => {
+    const fetchMock = vi.fn((_url: string, _init?: RequestInit) => jsonResponse({ "release-groups": [] }));
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchMock);
+    await searchReleaseGroup("AC/DC", 'Back in "Black"');
+    const [url] = fetchMock.mock.calls[0];
+    // the decoded query must contain the escaped quote, not a bare one that closes the phrase
+    expect(decodeURIComponent(url)).toContain('Back in \\"Black\\"');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/web/src/lib/musicbrainz.ts b/web/src/lib/musicbrainz.ts
index 896b47c..55f55e5 100644
--- a/web/src/lib/musicbrainz.ts
+++ b/web/src/lib/musicbrainz.ts
@@ -54,8 +54,12 @@ export async function browseReleaseGroups(artistMbid: string): Promise<ReleaseGr
   return out;
 }
 
+function escapeLucenePhrase(s: string): string {
+  return s.replace(/[\\"]/g, (c) => "\\" + c);
+}
+
 export async function searchReleaseGroup(artist: string, album: string): Promise<ReleaseGroupMatch | null> {
-  const query = `releasegroup:"${album}" AND artist:"${artist}"`;
+  const query = `releasegroup:"${escapeLucenePhrase(album)}" AND artist:"${escapeLucenePhrase(artist)}"`;
   const data = await mbGet(`/release-group?query=${encodeURIComponent(query)}&fmt=json&limit=5`);
   const groups: any[] = data["release-groups"] ?? [];
   if (groups.length === 0) return null;