diff --git a/src/diagrams/sequence/parser/sequenceDiagram.jison b/src/diagrams/sequence/parser/sequenceDiagram.jison
index 616b3f800..d5ba18b63 100644
--- a/src/diagrams/sequence/parser/sequenceDiagram.jison
+++ b/src/diagrams/sequence/parser/sequenceDiagram.jison
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 [0-9]+(?=[ \n]+)       											return 'NUM';
 "participant"                                                   { this.begin('ID'); return 'participant'; }
 "actor"                                                   	{ this.begin('ID'); return 'participant_actor'; }
-<ID>[^\->:\n,;]+?(?=((?!\n)\s)+"as"(?!\n)\s|[#\n;]|$)           { yytext = yytext.trim(); this.begin('ALIAS'); return 'ACTOR'; }
+<ID>[^\->:\n,;]+?([\-]*[^\->:\n,;]+?)*?(?=((?!\n)\s)+"as"(?!\n)\s|[#\n;]|$)     { yytext = yytext.trim(); this.begin('ALIAS'); return 'ACTOR'; }
 <ALIAS>"as"                                                     { this.popState(); this.popState(); this.begin('LINE'); return 'AS'; }
 <ALIAS>(?:)                                                     { this.popState(); this.popState(); return 'NEWLINE'; }
 "loop"                                                          { this.begin('LINE'); return 'loop'; }
diff --git a/src/diagrams/sequence/sequenceDiagram.spec.js b/src/diagrams/sequence/sequenceDiagram.spec.js
index 5b3d9b05d..af1abd20c 100644
--- a/src/diagrams/sequence/sequenceDiagram.spec.js
+++ b/src/diagrams/sequence/sequenceDiagram.spec.js
@@ -257,6 +257,28 @@ Bob-->Alice-in-Wonderland:I am good thanks!`;
     expect(messages[0].from).toBe('Alice-in-Wonderland');
     expect(messages[1].from).toBe('Bob');
   });
+
+  it('should handle dashes in participant names', function () {
+    const str = `
+sequenceDiagram
+participant Alice-in-Wonderland
+participant Bob
+Alice-in-Wonderland->Bob:Hello Bob, how are - you?
+Bob-->Alice-in-Wonderland:I am good thanks!`;
+
+    mermaidAPI.parse(str);
+    const actors = diagram.db.getActors();
+    expect(Object.keys(actors)).toEqual(['Alice-in-Wonderland', 'Bob']);
+    expect(actors['Alice-in-Wonderland'].description).toBe('Alice-in-Wonderland');
+    expect(actors.Bob.description).toBe('Bob');
+
+    const messages = diagram.db.getMessages();
+
+    expect(messages.length).toBe(2);
+    expect(messages[0].from).toBe('Alice-in-Wonderland');
+    expect(messages[1].from).toBe('Bob');
+  });
+
   it('should alias participants', function () {
     const str = `
 sequenceDiagram