diff --git a/awx/ui/static/js/forms/SurveyQuestion.js b/awx/ui/static/js/forms/SurveyQuestion.js
index f429852fac..89c4a59dfb 100644
--- a/awx/ui/static/js/forms/SurveyQuestion.js
+++ b/awx/ui/static/js/forms/SurveyQuestion.js
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ angular.module('SurveyQuestionFormDefinition', [])
                     'data-placement="right" data-container="body" data-title="Answer Variable Name" class="help-link" data-original-title="" title="" tabindex="-1"><i class="fa fa-question-circle"></i></a> </label>'+
                     '<div><input type="text" ng-model="variable" name="variable" id="survey_question_variable" class="form-control ng-pristine ng-invalid ng-invalid-required" required="" aw-survey-variable-name>'+
                     '<div class="error ng-hide" id="survey_question-variable-required-error" ng-show="survey_question_form.variable.$dirty &amp;&amp; survey_question_form.variable.$error.required">A value is required!</div>'+
-                    '<div class="error ng-hide" id="survey_question-variable-required-error" ng-show="survey_question_form.variable.$dirty &amp;&amp; survey_question_form.variable.$error.variable">Please remove spaces</div>'+
+                    '<div class="error ng-hide" id="survey_question-variable-required-error" ng-show="survey_question_form.variable.$dirty &amp;&amp; survey_question_form.variable.$error.variable">The value contains an illegal character!</div>'+
                     '<div class="error api-error ng-binding" id="survey_question-variable-api-error" ng-bind="variable_api_error"></div>'+
                     '</div>',
                 addRequired: true,
diff --git a/awx/ui/static/js/helpers/Survey.js b/awx/ui/static/js/helpers/Survey.js
index 17fabdf65e..0801ae512e 100644
--- a/awx/ui/static/js/helpers/Survey.js
+++ b/awx/ui/static/js/helpers/Survey.js
@@ -397,10 +397,6 @@ angular.module('SurveyHelper', [ 'Utilities', 'RestServices', 'SchedulesHelper',
             scope.float_min = null;
             scope.float_max = null;
 
-
-
-
-
             if (scope.removeFillQuestionForm) {
                 scope.removeFillQuestionForm();
             }
diff --git a/awx/ui/static/lib/ansible/directives.js b/awx/ui/static/lib/ansible/directives.js
index 8282a43944..1cef146fd8 100644
--- a/awx/ui/static/lib/ansible/directives.js
+++ b/awx/ui/static/lib/ansible/directives.js
@@ -239,16 +239,16 @@ angular.module('AWDirectives', ['RestServices', 'Utilities', 'AuthService', 'Job
     //the awSurveyVariableName directive checks if the field contains any spaces.
     // this could be elaborated in the future for other things we want to check this field against
     .directive('awSurveyVariableName', function() {
-        // var FLOAT_REGEXP = /^\-?\d+((\.|\,)\d+)?$/;
+        var FLOAT_REGEXP = /^[a-zA-Z_$][0-9a-zA-Z_$]*$/;
         return {
             require: 'ngModel',
             link: function(scope, elm, attrs, ctrl) {
                 ctrl.$parsers.unshift(function(viewValue) {
-                    if (viewValue.indexOf(' ') === -1) {
+                    if (FLOAT_REGEXP.test(viewValue) && viewValue.indexOf(' ') === -1) { //check for a spaces
                         ctrl.$setValidity('variable', true);
                         return viewValue;
                     } else {
-                        ctrl.$setValidity('variable', false);
+                        ctrl.$setValidity('variable', false); // spaces found, therefore throw error
                         return undefined;
                     }
                 });