diff --git a/constraint.go b/constraint.go
index 408d11d..130e074 100644
--- a/constraint.go
+++ b/constraint.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package vers
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"net/url"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 )
@@ -40,6 +41,9 @@ func parseConstraintWithScheme(s, scheme string) (*Constraint, error) {
 		if version == "" {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid constraint format: %s", s)
 		}
+		if decoded, err := url.PathUnescape(version); err == nil {
+			version = decoded
+		}
 		if !preserveVPrefix {
 			version = stripVPrefix(version)
 		}
@@ -48,6 +52,9 @@ func parseConstraintWithScheme(s, scheme string) (*Constraint, error) {
 
 	// No operator found, treat as exact match
 	version := s
+	if decoded, err := url.PathUnescape(version); err == nil {
+		version = decoded
+	}
 	if !preserveVPrefix {
 		version = stripVPrefix(s)
 	}
diff --git a/parser.go b/parser.go
index 7f5bc9f..2f58aed 100644
--- a/parser.go
+++ b/parser.go
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ func (p *Parser) ToVersString(r *Range, scheme string) string {
 		if interval.Min == interval.Max && interval.MinInclusive && interval.MaxInclusive && interval.Min != "" {
 			// Exact version - no operator needed per VERS spec
 			constraints = append(constraints, constraintWithVersion{
-				str:     normalizeVersion(interval.Min, scheme),
+				str:     encodeVersVersion(normalizeVersion(interval.Min, scheme)),
 				sortKey: interval.Min,
 			})
 		} else {
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ func (p *Parser) ToVersString(r *Range, scheme string) string {
 					op = ">="
 				}
 				constraints = append(constraints, constraintWithVersion{
-					str:     op + normalizeVersion(interval.Min, scheme),
+					str:     op + encodeVersVersion(normalizeVersion(interval.Min, scheme)),
 					sortKey: interval.Min,
 				})
 			}
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func (p *Parser) ToVersString(r *Range, scheme string) string {
 					op = "<="
 				}
 				constraints = append(constraints, constraintWithVersion{
-					str:     op + normalizeVersion(interval.Max, scheme),
+					str:     op + encodeVersVersion(normalizeVersion(interval.Max, scheme)),
 					sortKey: interval.Max,
 				})
 			}
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ func (p *Parser) ToVersString(r *Range, scheme string) string {
 	// Add exclusions
 	for _, exc := range r.Exclusions {
 		constraints = append(constraints, constraintWithVersion{
-			str:     "!=" + normalizeVersion(exc, scheme),
+			str:     "!=" + encodeVersVersion(normalizeVersion(exc, scheme)),
 			sortKey: exc,
 		})
 	}
@@ -147,6 +147,21 @@ func sortConstraintsByVersion(constraints []constraintWithVersion) {
 	}
 }
 
+var versMetaEncoder = strings.NewReplacer(
+	"|", "%7C",
+	">", "%3E",
+	"<", "%3C",
+	"=", "%3D",
+	"!", "%21",
+	"/", "%2F",
+	"*", "%2A",
+	" ", "%20",
+)
+
+func encodeVersVersion(v string) string {
+	return versMetaEncoder.Replace(v)
+}
+
 // normalizeVersion normalizes a version string for output.
 // For semver-based schemes, this ensures 3-part versions (1.1 -> 1.1.0).
 func normalizeVersion(version, scheme string) string {
diff --git a/parser_test.go b/parser_test.go
index 7eaed8e..24c5080 100644
--- a/parser_test.go
+++ b/parser_test.go
@@ -509,6 +509,26 @@ func TestToVersString(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestToVersStringEncodesMetacharacters(t *testing.T) {
+	parser := NewParser()
+
+	// A version string containing a VERS separator should be percent-encoded
+	r := Exact("1.0|2.0")
+	got := parser.ToVersString(r, "deb")
+	if strings.Contains(got, "|2.0") && !strings.Contains(got, "%7C") {
+		t.Errorf("ToVersString should encode | in version, got %q", got)
+	}
+
+	// Roundtrip: parse the encoded output and check containment
+	parsed, err := parser.Parse(got)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Parse(ToVersString()) failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !parsed.Contains("1.0|2.0") {
+		t.Error("roundtrip should preserve exact version with metacharacter")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestPublicAPISatisfies(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		name       string