diff --git a/compose/service.py b/compose/service.py
index dd2399ee34..9004260f6e 100644
--- a/compose/service.py
+++ b/compose/service.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ from docker.utils.ports import split_port
 from . import __version__
 from .config import DOCKER_CONFIG_KEYS
 from .config import merge_environment
-from .config.validation import VALID_NAME_CHARS
 from .const import DEFAULT_TIMEOUT
 from .const import IS_WINDOWS_PLATFORM
 from .const import LABEL_CONFIG_HASH
@@ -122,9 +121,6 @@ class Service(object):
         net=None,
         **options
     ):
-        if not re.match('^%s+$' % VALID_NAME_CHARS, project):
-            raise ConfigError('Invalid project name "%s" - only %s are allowed' % (project, VALID_NAME_CHARS))
-
         self.name = name
         self.client = client
         self.project = project
diff --git a/tests/unit/service_test.py b/tests/unit/service_test.py
index 808c391cd2..78edf3bf73 100644
--- a/tests/unit/service_test.py
+++ b/tests/unit/service_test.py
@@ -35,11 +35,6 @@ class ServiceTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         self.mock_client = mock.create_autospec(docker.Client)
 
-    def test_project_validation(self):
-        self.assertRaises(ConfigError, lambda: Service(name='foo', project='>', image='foo'))
-
-        Service(name='foo', project='bar.bar__', image='foo')
-
     def test_containers(self):
         service = Service('db', self.mock_client, 'myproject', image='foo')
         self.mock_client.containers.return_value = []