diff --git a/store/store_test.go b/store/store_test.go
index f116ba14..84584564 100644
--- a/store/store_test.go
+++ b/store/store_test.go
@@ -235,3 +235,26 @@ func TestNodeManagement(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NotNil(t, ng)
 	require.Equal(t, "mybuild", ng.Name)
 }
+
+func TestNodeInvalidName(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	tmpdir := t.TempDir()
+
+	s, err := New(tmpdir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	txn, release, err := s.Txn()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer release()
+
+	_, err = txn.NodeGroupByName("123builder")
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.True(t, IsErrInvalidName(err))
+
+	err = txn.Save(&NodeGroup{
+		Name:   "123builder",
+		Driver: "mydriver",
+	})
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.True(t, IsErrInvalidName(err))
+}
diff --git a/store/storeutil/storeutil.go b/store/storeutil/storeutil.go
index ce01d385..41e7c264 100644
--- a/store/storeutil/storeutil.go
+++ b/store/storeutil/storeutil.go
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ func GetCurrentInstance(txn *store.Txn, dockerCli command.Cli) (*store.NodeGroup
 func GetNodeGroup(txn *store.Txn, dockerCli command.Cli, name string) (*store.NodeGroup, error) {
 	ng, err := txn.NodeGroupByName(name)
 	if err != nil {
-		if !os.IsNotExist(errors.Cause(err)) {
+		if !os.IsNotExist(errors.Cause(err)) && !store.IsErrInvalidName(err) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/store/util.go b/store/util.go
index 278b64c3..269ca4a0 100644
--- a/store/util.go
+++ b/store/util.go
@@ -11,9 +11,28 @@ import (
 
 var namePattern = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9\.\-_]*$`)
 
+type errInvalidName struct {
+	error
+}
+
+func (e *errInvalidName) Error() string {
+	return e.error.Error()
+}
+
+func (e *errInvalidName) Unwrap() error {
+	return e.error
+}
+
+func IsErrInvalidName(err error) bool {
+	_, ok := err.(*errInvalidName)
+	return ok
+}
+
 func ValidateName(s string) (string, error) {
 	if !namePattern.MatchString(s) {
-		return "", errors.Errorf("invalid name %s, name needs to start with a letter and may not contain symbols, except ._-", s)
+		return "", &errInvalidName{
+			errors.Errorf("invalid name %s, name needs to start with a letter and may not contain symbols, except ._-", s),
+		}
 	}
 	return strings.ToLower(s), nil
 }