diff --git a/src/linkahead/apiutils.py b/src/linkahead/apiutils.py
index 88687716d16343fd3d7fb2d10de32f75513bdab9..39f97fcd49b88fa727102facd01a1579b5b36404 100644
--- a/src/linkahead/apiutils.py
+++ b/src/linkahead/apiutils.py
@@ -623,22 +623,3 @@ def _same_id_as_resolved_entity(this, that):
     if not isinstance(this, Entity) and isinstance(that, Entity):
         return that.id is not None and that.id == this
     return this == that
-
-
-def escape_quoted_text(text: str) -> str:
-    """The characters `\\` and `*` need to be escaped if used in quoted expressions in the query
-    language.
-
-    This function return the given string where the characters `\\` and `*` are escaped by a `\\`.
-
-    Parameters
-    ----------
-    text : str
-        The text to be escaped
-
-    Returns
-    -------
-    str
-        The escaped text
-    """
-    return text.replace('\\', r'\\').replace('*', r'\*')
diff --git a/src/linkahead/utils/get_entity.py b/src/linkahead/utils/get_entity.py
index ea9f3228bfc32f223979846623fccdec45752e5d..9fee45826b46c5a5ec9ca8c1e0bec134f5d7ce77 100644
--- a/src/linkahead/utils/get_entity.py
+++ b/src/linkahead/utils/get_entity.py
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@
 """Convenience functions to retrieve a specific entity."""
 
 from typing import Union
-from ..common.models import execute_query, Entity
+
+from ..common.models import Entity, execute_query
+from .escape import escape_quoted_text
 
 
 def get_entity_by_name(name: str) -> Entity:
@@ -30,6 +32,7 @@ def get_entity_by_name(name: str) -> Entity:
 
     Submits the query "FIND ENTITY WITH name='{name}'".
     """
+    name = escape_quoted_text(name)
     return execute_query(f"FIND ENTITY WITH name='{name}'", unique=True)
 
 
diff --git a/unittests/test_apiutils.py b/unittests/test_apiutils.py
index 47d8e3e9f02bb010190213616195ecc91647dcf4..3ed719f7b00a4c5bf25583ac6729738d3d872f57 100644
--- a/unittests/test_apiutils.py
+++ b/unittests/test_apiutils.py
@@ -31,8 +31,7 @@ import linkahead.apiutils
 import pytest
 from linkahead.apiutils import (EntityMergeConflictError, apply_to_ids,
                                 compare_entities, create_id_query, empty_diff,
-                                escape_quoted_text, merge_entities,
-                                resolve_reference)
+                                merge_entities, resolve_reference)
 from linkahead.common.models import SPECIAL_ATTRIBUTES
 
 
@@ -633,10 +632,3 @@ def test_merge_id_with_resolved_entity():
     merge_entities(recA, recB, merge_id_with_resolved_entity=True)
     assert recA.get_property(rtname).value == [ref_id, ref_id*2]
     assert recA.get_property(rtname).value == recB.get_property(rtname).value
-
-
-def test_escape_quoted_text():
-    assert escape_quoted_text("bla") == "bla"
-    assert escape_quoted_text("bl\\a") == "bl\\\\a"
-    assert escape_quoted_text("bl*a") == "bl\\*a"
-    assert escape_quoted_text("bl*ab\\\\lab\\*labla") == "bl\\*ab\\\\\\\\lab\\\\\\*labla"
diff --git a/unittests/test_utils.py b/unittests/test_utils.py
index 3d8e2896247f66c98f1461c1a1e91baca5f01cb6..aa3ec8745ef5f47bb4f85106e1df4c66d8b962de 100644
--- a/unittests/test_utils.py
+++ b/unittests/test_utils.py
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@
 #
 """Tests for linkahead.common.utils."""
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
-from lxml.etree import Element
+
 from linkahead.common.utils import xml2str
+from linkahead.utils.escape import escape_quoted_text
+from lxml.etree import Element
 
 
 def test_xml2str():
@@ -32,3 +34,11 @@ def test_xml2str():
     element = Element(name)
     serialized = xml2str(element)
     assert serialized == "<Björn/>\n"
+
+
+
+def test_escape_quoted_text():
+    assert escape_quoted_text("bla") == "bla"
+    assert escape_quoted_text("bl\\a") == "bl\\\\a"
+    assert escape_quoted_text("bl*a") == "bl\\*a"
+    assert escape_quoted_text("bl*ab\\\\lab\\*labla") == "bl\\*ab\\\\\\\\lab\\\\\\*labla"