diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index b6a1d5ea..2d69a87c 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ importFrom(dplyr,select)
 importFrom(dplyr,ungroup)
 importFrom(drvid,read.neuron.dvid)
 importFrom(glue,glue)
+importFrom(glue,glue_collapse)
 importFrom(httr,parse_url)
 importFrom(magrittr,"%>%")
 importFrom(memoise,memoise)
diff --git a/R/fetch.R b/R/fetch.R
index b7acb5ae..e1604d59 100644
--- a/R/fetch.R
+++ b/R/fetch.R
@@ -72,9 +72,14 @@ neuprint_error_check <- function(req) {
 #' @param stringsAsFactors Whether to return character vector columns as
 #'   factors. Note that the default of \code{FALSE} differs from
 #'   \code{\link{data.frame}} and friends.
+#' @param check.names Whether to convert column names into R friendly form. This
+#'   is not necessary but would be the default for \code{\link{data.frame}} were
+#'   we not to set it ourselves. See \code{\link{as.data.frame}} for details.
 #' @param ... Additional arguments passed to \code{\link{as.data.frame}}
+#'
 #' @export
 neuprint_list2df <- function(x, cols=NULL, return_empty_df=FALSE,
+                             check.names=FALSE,
                              stringsAsFactors=FALSE, ...) {
 
   if(length(x)>=2 && all(c("columns", "data") %in% names(x))) {
@@ -87,7 +92,7 @@ neuprint_list2df <- function(x, cols=NULL, return_empty_df=FALSE,
 
   if(!length(x)) {
     return(if(return_empty_df){
-      as.data.frame(structure(replicate(length(cols), logical(0)), .Names=cols))
+      as.data.frame(structure(replicate(length(cols), logical(0)), .Names=cols), check.names=check.names)
     } else NULL)
   }
 
@@ -108,7 +113,7 @@ neuprint_list2df <- function(x, cols=NULL, return_empty_df=FALSE,
     }
     l[[cols[i]]]=raw_col
   }
-  as.data.frame(l, stringsAsFactors=stringsAsFactors, ...)
+  as.data.frame(l, stringsAsFactors=stringsAsFactors, check.names=check.names, ...)
 }
 
 #' @importFrom memoise memoise
diff --git a/R/name.R b/R/name.R
index da8df877..2441cfff 100644
--- a/R/name.R
+++ b/R/name.R
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ neuprint_get_neuron_names <- function(bodyids, dataset = NULL, all_segments = TR
 #' \dontrun{
 #' neuprint_get_meta('cropped:false')
 #' }
+#' @importFrom glue glue_collapse glue
 neuprint_get_meta <- function(bodyids, dataset = NULL, all_segments = TRUE,
                               conn = NULL, chunk=TRUE, progress=FALSE,
                               possibleFields=NULL, ...){
@@ -147,7 +148,9 @@ neuprint_get_meta <- function(bodyids, dataset = NULL, all_segments = TRUE,
   fieldNames <- neuprint_get_fields(possibleFields = possibleFields,
                                     dataset=dataset,conn=conn)
   rfields=dfFields(fieldNames)
-  returnCypher <- paste0("n.",fieldNames," AS ",rfields,collapse=" , ")
+  returnCypher <- glue("n.`{dfields}` AS `{rfields}`",
+                       dfields=fieldNames)
+  returnCypher=glue_collapse(returnCypher, sep = ',')
   cypher = glue(
     "WITH {id2json(bodyids)} AS bodyIds UNWIND bodyIds AS bodyId ",
     " MATCH (n:`{node}`) WHERE n.bodyId=bodyId",
@@ -485,7 +488,7 @@ neuprint_typeof <- function(field, type=c("r", "neo4j"), cache=TRUE,
   q <- if(type=='r') {"
     MATCH (n:Neuron)
     WHERE exists(n.`{field}`)
-    RETURN n.{field} AS {field}
+    RETURN n.`{field}` AS `{field}`
     LIMIT 1
   " } else {"
     MATCH (n:Neuron)
diff --git a/man/neuprint_list2df.Rd b/man/neuprint_list2df.Rd
index 6384ce4d..ac0cb81b 100644
--- a/man/neuprint_list2df.Rd
+++ b/man/neuprint_list2df.Rd
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ neuprint_list2df(
   x,
   cols = NULL,
   return_empty_df = FALSE,
+  check.names = FALSE,
   stringsAsFactors = FALSE,
   ...
 )
@@ -20,6 +21,10 @@ all of those named in \code{x}, see details).}
 
 \item{return_empty_df}{Return a zero row data frame when there is no result.}
 
+\item{check.names}{Whether to convert column names into R friendly form. This
+is not necessary but would be the default for \code{\link{data.frame}} were
+we not to set it ourselves. See \code{\link{as.data.frame}} for details.}
+
 \item{stringsAsFactors}{Whether to return character vector columns as
 factors. Note that the default of \code{FALSE} differs from
 \code{\link{data.frame}} and friends.}