diff --git a/packages/cli/generators/openapi/schema-helper.js b/packages/cli/generators/openapi/schema-helper.js
index 3275d646780b..a402932a8492 100644
--- a/packages/cli/generators/openapi/schema-helper.js
+++ b/packages/cli/generators/openapi/schema-helper.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ const {
   isExtension,
   titleCase,
   kebabCase,
-  escapeIdentifier,
+  escapePropertyName,
   toJsonStr,
 } = require('./utils');
 
@@ -159,12 +159,12 @@ function mapObjectType(schema, options) {
         }),
       );
       // The property name might have chars such as `-`
-      const propName = escapeIdentifier(p);
+      const propName = escapePropertyName(p);
 
-      let propDecoration = `@property({name: '${p}'})`;
+      let propDecoration = `@property()`;
 
       if (required.includes(p)) {
-        propDecoration = `@property({name: '${p}', required: true})`;
+        propDecoration = `@property({required: true})`;
       }
 
       if (propertyType.itemType) {
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ function mapObjectType(schema, options) {
               getJSType(propertyType.itemType.name);
         if (itemType) {
           // Use `@property.array` for array types
-          propDecoration = `@property.array(${itemType}, {name: '${p}'})`;
+          propDecoration = `@property.array(${itemType})`;
           if (propertyType.itemType.className) {
             // The referenced item type is either a class or type
             collectImports(typeSpec, propertyType.itemType);
diff --git a/packages/cli/generators/openapi/utils.js b/packages/cli/generators/openapi/utils.js
index 055129dfc7da..f5fcb01f069f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/generators/openapi/utils.js
+++ b/packages/cli/generators/openapi/utils.js
@@ -151,6 +151,17 @@ function escapeIdentifier(name) {
   return name;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Escape the property if it's not a valid JavaScript identifer
+ * @param {string} name
+ */
+function escapePropertyName(name) {
+  if (JS_KEYWORDS.includes(name) || !name.match(SAFE_IDENTIFER)) {
+    return toJsonStr(name);
+  }
+  return name;
+}
+
 function toJsonStr(val) {
   return json5.stringify(val, null, 2);
 }
@@ -163,6 +174,7 @@ module.exports = {
   kebabCase: utils.kebabCase,
   camelCase: _.camelCase,
   escapeIdentifier,
+  escapePropertyName,
   toJsonStr,
   validateUrlOrFile,
 };
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/integration/generators/openapi-petstore.integration.js b/packages/cli/test/integration/generators/openapi-petstore.integration.js
index dc1bda1afd87..ed1015e28cd8 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/integration/generators/openapi-petstore.integration.js
+++ b/packages/cli/test/integration/generators/openapi-petstore.integration.js
@@ -71,12 +71,9 @@ describe('openapi-generator specific files', function() {
     assert.file(newPetModel);
     assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `export class NewPet {`);
     assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `@model({name: 'NewPet'})`);
-    assert.fileContent(
-      newPetModel,
-      `@property({name: 'name', required: true})`,
-    );
+    assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `@property({required: true})`);
     assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `name: string;`);
-    assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `@property({name: 'tag'})`);
+    assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `@property()`);
     assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `tag?: string`);
     assert.file(errorModel);
   });
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/integration/generators/swagger-petstore.integration.js b/packages/cli/test/integration/generators/swagger-petstore.integration.js
index f839b9639d69..ad8d1512eb5e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/integration/generators/swagger-petstore.integration.js
+++ b/packages/cli/test/integration/generators/swagger-petstore.integration.js
@@ -69,12 +69,9 @@ describe('openapi-generator specific files', () => {
     assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `export class NewPet {`);
     assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `constructor(data?: Partial<NewPet>) {`);
     assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `@model({name: 'NewPet'})`);
-    assert.fileContent(
-      newPetModel,
-      `@property({name: 'name', required: true})`,
-    );
+    assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `@property({required: true})`);
     assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `name: string;`);
-    assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `@property({name: 'tag'})`);
+    assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `@property()`);
     assert.fileContent(newPetModel, `tag?: string`);
     assert.file(errorModel);
   });
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/unit/openapi/openapi-utils.unit.js b/packages/cli/test/unit/openapi/openapi-utils.unit.js
index c30ef6e0b6cd..64444e11f64a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/unit/openapi/openapi-utils.unit.js
+++ b/packages/cli/test/unit/openapi/openapi-utils.unit.js
@@ -22,4 +22,17 @@ describe('openapi utils', () => {
     expect(utils.escapeIdentifier('fooBar')).to.eql('fooBar');
     expect(utils.escapeIdentifier('Foobar')).to.eql('Foobar');
   });
+
+  it('escapes property names with illegal chars', () => {
+    expect(utils.escapePropertyName('customer-id')).to.eql("'customer-id'");
+    expect(utils.escapePropertyName('customer id')).to.eql("'customer id'");
+    expect(utils.escapePropertyName('customer.id')).to.eql("'customer.id'");
+    expect(utils.escapePropertyName('default')).to.eql("'default'");
+  });
+
+  it('does not escape property names with legal chars', () => {
+    expect(utils.escapePropertyName('customerId')).to.eql('customerId');
+    expect(utils.escapePropertyName('customer_id')).to.eql('customer_id');
+    expect(utils.escapePropertyName('customerid')).to.eql('customerid');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/unit/openapi/schema-model.unit.js b/packages/cli/test/unit/openapi/schema-model.unit.js
index 602a8150672e..9b7cbec4e3e1 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/unit/openapi/schema-model.unit.js
+++ b/packages/cli/test/unit/openapi/schema-model.unit.js
@@ -50,14 +50,14 @@ describe('schema to model', () => {
           {
             name: 'total',
             signature: 'total?: number;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'total'})",
+            decoration: '@property()',
           },
           {
             name: 'apis',
             signature:
               'apis?: {\n  apiKey?: string;\n  apiVersionNumber?: string;\n' +
               '  apiUrl?: string;\n  apiDocumentationUrl?: string;\n}[];',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'apis'})",
+            decoration: '@property()',
           },
         ],
         declaration:
@@ -81,14 +81,14 @@ describe('schema to model', () => {
           {
             name: 'total',
             signature: 'total?: number;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'total'})",
+            decoration: '@property()',
           },
           {
             name: 'apis',
             signature:
               'apis?: {\n  apiKey?: string;\n  apiVersionNumber?: string;\n  ' +
               'apiUrl?: string;\n  apiDocumentationUrl?: string;\n}[];',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'apis'})",
+            decoration: '@property()',
           },
         ],
         imports: [],
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ describe('schema to model', () => {
           {
             name: 'criteria',
             signature: "criteria: string = '*:*';",
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'criteria', required: true})",
+            decoration: '@property({required: true})',
             description:
               'Uses Lucene Query Syntax in the format of propertyName:value, ' +
               'propertyName:[num1 TO num2] and date range format: ' +
@@ -121,13 +121,13 @@ describe('schema to model', () => {
           {
             name: 'start',
             signature: 'start?: number = 0;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'start'})",
+            decoration: '@property()',
             description: 'Starting record number. Default value is 0.',
           },
           {
             name: 'rows',
             signature: 'rows?: number = 100;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'rows'})",
+            decoration: '@property()',
             description:
               'Specify number of rows to be returned. If you run the search ' +
               "with default values, in the response you will see 'numFound' " +
@@ -188,12 +188,12 @@ describe('schema to model', () => {
               {
                 name: 'name',
                 signature: 'name: string;',
-                decoration: "@property({name: 'name', required: true})",
+                decoration: '@property({required: true})',
               },
               {
                 name: 'tag',
                 signature: 'tag?: string;',
-                decoration: "@property({name: 'tag'})",
+                decoration: '@property()',
               },
             ],
             imports: [],
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ describe('schema to model', () => {
               {
                 name: 'id',
                 signature: 'id: number;',
-                decoration: "@property({name: 'id', required: true})",
+                decoration: '@property({required: true})',
               },
             ],
             signature: '{\n  id: number;\n}',
@@ -228,12 +228,12 @@ describe('schema to model', () => {
           {
             name: 'name',
             signature: 'name: string;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'name', required: true})",
+            decoration: '@property({required: true})',
           },
           {
             name: 'tag',
             signature: 'tag?: string;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'tag'})",
+            decoration: '@property()',
           },
         ],
         imports: [],
@@ -251,12 +251,12 @@ describe('schema to model', () => {
           {
             name: 'code',
             signature: 'code: number;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'code', required: true})",
+            decoration: '@property({required: true})',
           },
           {
             name: 'message',
             signature: 'message: string;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'message', required: true})",
+            decoration: '@property({required: true})',
           },
         ],
         imports: [],
@@ -312,22 +312,22 @@ describe('schema to model', () => {
             {
               name: 'street',
               signature: 'street?: string;',
-              decoration: "@property({name: 'street'})",
+              decoration: '@property()',
             },
             {
               name: 'city',
               signature: 'city?: string;',
-              decoration: "@property({name: 'city'})",
+              decoration: '@property()',
             },
             {
               name: 'state',
               signature: 'state?: string;',
-              decoration: "@property({name: 'state'})",
+              decoration: '@property()',
             },
             {
               name: 'zipCode',
               signature: 'zipCode?: string;',
-              decoration: "@property({name: 'zipCode'})",
+              decoration: '@property()',
             },
           ],
           imports: [],
@@ -347,22 +347,22 @@ describe('schema to model', () => {
           {
             name: 'street',
             signature: 'street?: string;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'street'})",
+            decoration: '@property()',
           },
           {
             name: 'city',
             signature: 'city?: string;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'city'})",
+            decoration: '@property()',
           },
           {
             name: 'state',
             signature: 'state?: string;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'state'})",
+            decoration: '@property()',
           },
           {
             name: 'zipCode',
             signature: 'zipCode?: string;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'zipCode'})",
+            decoration: '@property()',
           },
         ],
         imports: [],
@@ -381,37 +381,37 @@ describe('schema to model', () => {
           {
             name: 'id',
             signature: 'id: number;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'id', required: true})",
+            decoration: '@property({required: true})',
           },
           {
             name: 'first-name',
-            signature: 'firstName?: string;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'first-name'})",
+            signature: "'first-name'?: string;",
+            decoration: '@property()',
           },
           {
             name: 'last-name',
-            signature: 'lastName?: Name;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'last-name'})",
+            signature: "'last-name'?: Name;",
+            decoration: '@property()',
           },
           {
             name: 'profiles',
             signature: 'profiles?: ProfileId[];',
-            decoration: "@property.array(String, {name: 'profiles'})",
+            decoration: '@property.array(String)',
           },
           {
             name: 'emails',
             signature: 'emails?: string[];',
-            decoration: "@property.array(String, {name: 'emails'})",
+            decoration: '@property.array(String)',
           },
           {
             name: 'addresses',
             signature: 'addresses?: AddressList;',
-            decoration: "@property.array(Address, {name: 'addresses'})",
+            decoration: '@property.array(Address)',
           },
           {
             name: 'us-office',
-            signature: 'usOffice?: Address;',
-            decoration: "@property({name: 'us-office'})",
+            signature: "'us-office'?: Address;",
+            decoration: '@property()',
           },
         ],
         imports: [
@@ -423,9 +423,9 @@ describe('schema to model', () => {
         import: "import {Customer} from './customer.model';",
         kind: 'class',
         declaration:
-          '{\n  id: number;\n  firstName?: string;\n  lastName?: Name;\n' +
+          "{\n  id: number;\n  'first-name'?: string;\n  'last-name'?: Name;\n" +
           '  profiles?: ProfileId[];\n  emails?: string[];\n' +
-          '  addresses?: AddressList;\n  usOffice?: Address;\n}',
+          "  addresses?: AddressList;\n  'us-office'?: Address;\n}",
         signature: 'Customer',
       },
     ]);