diff --git a/plugins/inputs/sysstat/sysstat.go b/plugins/inputs/sysstat/sysstat.go
index 42ce89550..f1778fd6a 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/sysstat/sysstat.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/sysstat/sysstat.go
@@ -335,6 +335,7 @@ func (s *Sysstat) sadfOptions(activityOption string) []string {
 // escape removes % and / chars in field names
 func escape(dirty string) string {
 	var fieldEscaper = strings.NewReplacer(
+		`%%`, "pct_",
 		`%`, "pct_",
 		`/`, "_per_",
 	)
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/sysstat/sysstat_test.go b/plugins/inputs/sysstat/sysstat_test.go
index 876e6d2c8..1674f2747 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/sysstat/sysstat_test.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/sysstat/sysstat_test.go
@@ -225,6 +225,10 @@ func TestEscape(t *testing.T) {
 			"%util",
 			"pct_util",
 		},
+		{
+			"%%util",
+			"pct_util",
+		},
 		{
 			"bread/s",
 			"bread_per_s",