diff --git a/tests/test_serialize.py b/tests/test_serialize.py
index c960d39..0534b79 100644
--- a/tests/test_serialize.py
+++ b/tests/test_serialize.py
@@ -22,3 +22,6 @@ class SerializeTests(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_parse_list(self):
         self.assertEqual(["abcd"], serialize.parse('["abcd"]'))
+
+    def test_parse_weird_chars(self):
+        self.assertEqual("*@google.com", serialize.parse("*@google.com"))
diff --git a/tutor/serialize.py b/tutor/serialize.py
index 1c11885..ca6c3b7 100644
--- a/tutor/serialize.py
+++ b/tutor/serialize.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import yaml
 from yaml.parser import ParserError
+from yaml.scanner import ScannerError
 
 
 def load(stream):
@@ -16,6 +17,6 @@ def parse(v):
     """
     try:
         return load(v)
-    except ParserError:
+    except (ParserError, ScannerError):
         pass
     return v