diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index cf407a9582..1f2ab23ef3 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -12,8 +12,11 @@ Service fixes and enhancements
 Infrastructure, Utility and Other Changes and Additions
 -------------------------------------------------------
 
+utils.tap
+^^^^^^^^^
 
-
+- ``TapPlus.upload_table`` should not allow table names to contain a
+  dot. ``ValueError`` is now raised for such cases. [#2971]
 
 
 0.4.7 (2024-03-08)
diff --git a/astroquery/utils/tap/core.py b/astroquery/utils/tap/core.py
index ce0bd833a0..a598bd8630 100755
--- a/astroquery/utils/tap/core.py
+++ b/astroquery/utils/tap/core.py
@@ -1425,6 +1425,8 @@ def upload_table(self, *, upload_resource=None, table_name=None,
             raise ValueError("Missing mandatory argument 'upload_resource'")
         if table_name is None:
             raise ValueError("Missing mandatory argument 'table_name'")
+        if "." in table_name:
+            raise ValueError(f"Table name is not allowed to contain a dot: {table_name}")
         if table_description is None:
             description = ""
         else:
diff --git a/astroquery/utils/tap/tests/test_tap.py b/astroquery/utils/tap/tests/test_tap.py
index 47efa10c2c..507fb6ed98 100644
--- a/astroquery/utils/tap/tests/test_tap.py
+++ b/astroquery/utils/tap/tests/test_tap.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 from astroquery.utils.tap.conn.tests.DummyResponse import DummyResponse
 from astroquery.utils.tap.core import TapPlus
 from astroquery.utils.tap import taputils
+from astropy.table import Table
 
 
 def read_file(filename):
@@ -936,3 +937,17 @@ def test_logout(mock_logout):
     with pytest.raises(HTTPError):
         tap.logout()
     assert (mock_logout.call_count == 2)
+
+
+def test_upload_table():
+    conn_handler = DummyConnHandler()
+    tap = TapPlus(url="http://test:1111/tap", connhandler=conn_handler)
+    a = [1, 2, 3]
+    b = ['a', 'b', 'c']
+    table = Table([a, b], names=['col1', 'col2'], meta={'meta': 'first table'})
+
+    table_name = 'hola.table_test_from_astropy'
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError) as exc_info:
+        tap.upload_table(upload_resource=table, table_name=table_name)
+
+    assert str(exc_info.value) == f"Table name is not allowed to contain a dot: {table_name}"