diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 386ea0d..2142c57 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "o.js",
-  "version": "1.3.0",
+  "version": "1.3.1",
   "lockfileVersion": 2,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
-      "version": "1.3.0",
+      "name": "o.js",
+      "version": "1.3.1",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "cross-fetch": "^3.0.6",
@@ -2679,8 +2680,7 @@
         "esprima": "^4.0.1",
         "estraverse": "^4.2.0",
         "esutils": "^2.0.2",
-        "optionator": "^0.8.1",
-        "source-map": "~0.6.1"
+        "optionator": "^0.8.1"
       },
       "bin": {
         "escodegen": "bin/escodegen.js",
@@ -3776,9 +3776,6 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/is-wsl/-/is-wsl-2.2.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-fKzAra0rGJUUBwGBgNkHZuToZcn+TtXHpeCgmkMJMMYx1sQDYaCSyjJBSCa2nH1DGm7s3n1oBnohoVTBaN7Lww==",
       "dev": true,
-      "dependencies": {
-        "is-docker": "^2.0.0"
-      },
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=8"
       },
@@ -4558,7 +4555,6 @@
         "@types/node": "*",
         "anymatch": "^3.0.3",
         "fb-watchman": "^2.0.0",
-        "fsevents": "^2.1.2",
         "graceful-fs": "^4.2.4",
         "jest-regex-util": "^26.0.0",
         "jest-serializer": "^26.5.0",
@@ -5870,9 +5866,6 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/jsonfile/-/jsonfile-4.0.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha1-h3Gq4HmbZAdrdmQPygWPnBDjPss=",
       "dev": true,
-      "dependencies": {
-        "graceful-fs": "^4.1.6"
-      },
       "optionalDependencies": {
         "graceful-fs": "^4.1.6"
       }
@@ -7096,8 +7089,7 @@
       "dev": true,
       "dependencies": {
         "commander": "~2.9.0",
-        "source-map": "~0.5.1",
-        "uglify-to-browserify": "~1.0.0"
+        "source-map": "~0.5.1"
       },
       "bin": {
         "uglifyjs": "bin/uglifyjs"
@@ -8062,9 +8054,9 @@
       }
     },
     "node_modules/tslib": {
-      "version": "1.9.3",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/tslib/-/tslib-1.9.3.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-4krF8scpejhaOgqzBEcGM7yDIEfi0/8+8zDRZhNZZ2kjmHJ4hv3zCbQWxoJGz1iw5U0Jl0nma13xzHXcncMavQ=="
+      "version": "1.14.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/tslib/-/tslib-1.14.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-Xni35NKzjgMrwevysHTCArtLDpPvye8zV/0E4EyYn43P7/7qvQwPh9BGkHewbMulVntbigmcT7rdX3BNo9wRJg=="
     },
     "node_modules/tslint": {
       "version": "5.12.1",
@@ -15337,9 +15329,9 @@
       }
     },
     "tslib": {
-      "version": "1.9.3",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/tslib/-/tslib-1.9.3.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-4krF8scpejhaOgqzBEcGM7yDIEfi0/8+8zDRZhNZZ2kjmHJ4hv3zCbQWxoJGz1iw5U0Jl0nma13xzHXcncMavQ=="
+      "version": "1.14.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/tslib/-/tslib-1.14.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-Xni35NKzjgMrwevysHTCArtLDpPvye8zV/0E4EyYn43P7/7qvQwPh9BGkHewbMulVntbigmcT7rdX3BNo9wRJg=="
     },
     "tslint": {
       "version": "5.12.1",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 380f3b1..456e16c 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "o.js",
   "description": "o.js is a isomorphic Odata Javascript library to simplify the request of data. The main goal is to build a standalone, lightweight and easy to understand Odata lib.",
-  "version": "1.4.0-rc0",
+  "version": "2.0.0-rc1",
   "main": "dist/cjs/o.js",
   "browser": "dist/umd/o.js",
   "module": "dist/es2015/o.js",
diff --git a/src/ORequest.spec.ts b/src/ORequest.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b3b9b33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ORequest.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import { ORequest } from "./ORequest";
+
+describe("applyQuery", () => {
+  it('does not use "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" encoding', () => {
+    expect(new ORequest(new URL("https://example.com"), {}).applyQuery({
+      $top: 4,
+      $filter: "foo eq bar or startsWith(foo, 'baz')",
+    }).url.href)
+      // Space is encoded as "%20" and not "+"
+      .toBe("https://example.com/?%24top=4&%24filter=foo%20eq%20bar%20or%20startsWith%28foo%2C%20%27baz%27%29");
+  });
+
+  it("considers existing query parameters, overwrites with entries from queries", () => {
+    expect(new ORequest(new URL("https://example.com?$top=5&$orderby=Some+Field&$search=some%20term"), {}).applyQuery({
+      $top: 4,
+      $filter: "foo eq bar or startsWith(foo, 'baz')",
+    }).url.href)
+      .toBe("https://example.com/?%24top=4&%24filter=foo%20eq%20bar%20or%20startsWith%28foo%2C%20%27baz%27%29&%24orderby=Some%20Field&%24search=some%20term");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/ORequest.ts b/src/ORequest.ts
index b96624a..73baddb 100644
--- a/src/ORequest.ts
+++ b/src/ORequest.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 import { OdataQuery } from "./OdataQuery";
 
+const encodeURIComponentStrict =
+  (str: string) => encodeURIComponent(str)
+    .replace(/[!'()*]/g, (c) => `%${c.charCodeAt(0).toString(16).toUpperCase()}`);
+
 export class ORequest {
   public url: URL;
 
@@ -16,15 +20,16 @@ export class ORequest {
     return fetch(req, this.config);
   }
 
-  public applyQuery(query?: OdataQuery) {
-    for (const key in query) {
-      if (query.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
-        if (this.url.searchParams.get(key)) {
-          this.url.searchParams.set(key, query[key]);
-        } else {
-          this.url.searchParams.append(key, query[key]);
-        }
+  public applyQuery(query: OdataQuery = {}) {
+    this.url.searchParams.forEach((value, key) => {
+      if (!query.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
+        query[key] = value;
       }
-    }
+    });
+
+    this.url.search = Object.entries(query)
+      .map(([key, value]) => `${encodeURIComponentStrict(key)}=${encodeURIComponentStrict(value)}`)
+      .join("&");
+    return this;
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/o.spec.ts b/src/o.spec.ts
index 571b6f9..8edc6c5 100644
--- a/src/o.spec.ts
+++ b/src/o.spec.ts
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ describe("Instant request", () => {
 
     // expect
     expect(decodeURIComponent((data as Response).url)).toContain(
-      "People?$top=1&$filter=FirstName+eq+'john'"
+      "People?$top=1&$filter=FirstName eq 'john'"
     );
   });
 
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ describe("Request handling", () => {
 
     // expect
     expect(decodeURIComponent(req[0].url)).toContain(
-      "People?$top=1&$filter=FirstName+eq+'john'"
+      "People?$top=1&$filter=FirstName eq 'john'"
     );
   });