diff --git a/internal/graph/dotgraph.go b/internal/graph/dotgraph.go
index 09d40fd2c..00974cd64 100644
--- a/internal/graph/dotgraph.go
+++ b/internal/graph/dotgraph.go
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ func (b *builder) addNodelets(node *Node, nodeID int) bool {
 			continue
 		}
 		weight := b.config.FormatValue(w)
-		nodelets += fmt.Sprintf(`N%d_%d [label = "%s" id="N%d_%d" fontsize=8 shape=box3d tooltip="%s"]`+"\n", nodeID, i, t.Name, nodeID, i, weight)
+		nodelets += fmt.Sprintf(`N%d_%d [label = "%s" id="N%d_%d" fontsize=8 shape=box3d tooltip="%s"]`+"\n", nodeID, i, escapeForDotCentered(t.Name), nodeID, i, weight)
 		nodelets += fmt.Sprintf(`N%d -> N%d_%d [label=" %s" weight=100 tooltip="%s" labeltooltip="%s"]`+"\n", nodeID, nodeID, i, weight, weight, weight)
 		if nts := lnts[t.Name]; nts != nil {
 			nodelets += b.numericNodelets(nts, maxNodelets, flatTags, fmt.Sprintf(`N%d_%d`, nodeID, i))
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ func (b *builder) numericNodelets(nts []*Tag, maxNumNodelets int, flatTags bool,
 		}
 		if w != 0 {
 			weight := b.config.FormatValue(w)
-			nodelets += fmt.Sprintf(`N%s_%d [label = "%s" id="N%s_%d" fontsize=8 shape=box3d tooltip="%s"]`+"\n", source, j, t.Name, source, j, weight)
+			nodelets += fmt.Sprintf(`N%s_%d [label = "%s" id="N%s_%d" fontsize=8 shape=box3d tooltip="%s"]`+"\n", source, j, escapeForDotCentered(t.Name), source, j, weight)
 			nodelets += fmt.Sprintf(`%s -> N%s_%d [label=" %s" weight=100 tooltip="%s" labeltooltip="%s"%s]`+"\n", source, source, j, weight, weight, weight, attr)
 		}
 	}
@@ -486,9 +486,16 @@ func escapeAllForDot(in []string) []string {
 	return out
 }
 
-// escapeForDot escapes double quotes and backslashes, and replaces Graphviz's
-// "center" character (\n) with a left-justified character.
+// escapeForDot escapes double quotes and backslashes, and replaces newlines
+// with a left-justified escape (\l).
 // See https://graphviz.org/docs/attr-types/escString/ for more info.
 func escapeForDot(str string) string {
 	return strings.ReplaceAll(strings.ReplaceAll(strings.ReplaceAll(str, `\`, `\\`), `"`, `\"`), "\n", `\l`)
 }
+
+// escapeForDotCentered escapes double quotes and backslashes, and replaces
+// newlines with Graphviz's center escape (\n).
+// See https://graphviz.org/docs/attr-types/escString/ for more info.
+func escapeForDotCentered(str string) string {
+	return strings.ReplaceAll(strings.ReplaceAll(strings.ReplaceAll(str, `\`, `\\`), `"`, `\"`), "\n", `\n`)
+}
diff --git a/internal/graph/dotgraph_test.go b/internal/graph/dotgraph_test.go
index b375bb622..84ec80e05 100644
--- a/internal/graph/dotgraph_test.go
+++ b/internal/graph/dotgraph_test.go
@@ -150,6 +150,29 @@ func TestComposeWithNamesThatNeedEscaping(t *testing.T) {
 	compareGraphs(t, buf.Bytes(), "compose7.dot")
 }
 
+func TestComposeWithTagsThatNeedEscaping(t *testing.T) {
+	g := baseGraph()
+	a, c := baseAttrsAndConfig()
+	g.Nodes[0].LabelTags["a"] = &Tag{
+		Name: `label"quote"` + "\nline2",
+		Cum:  10,
+		Flat: 10,
+	}
+	g.Nodes[0].NumericTags[""] = TagMap{
+		"b": &Tag{
+			Name: `numeric"quote"` + "\nline2",
+			Cum:  20,
+			Flat: 20,
+			Unit: "ms",
+		},
+	}
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	ComposeDot(&buf, g, a, c)
+
+	compareGraphs(t, buf.Bytes(), "compose8.dot")
+}
+
 func TestComposeWithCommentsWithNewlines(t *testing.T) {
 	g := baseGraph()
 	a, c := baseAttrsAndConfig()
diff --git a/internal/graph/graph.go b/internal/graph/graph.go
index 8abbd83f7..e5c40cd8c 100644
--- a/internal/graph/graph.go
+++ b/internal/graph/graph.go
@@ -525,6 +525,8 @@ func (g *Graph) TrimTree(kept NodePtrSet) {
 	g.RemoveRedundantEdges()
 }
 
+// joinLabels returns the labels as a string. Newlines in the labels are
+// replaced with "\n". Separate labels are joined with newlines.
 func joinLabels(s *profile.Sample) string {
 	if len(s.Label) == 0 {
 		return ""
@@ -533,11 +535,13 @@ func joinLabels(s *profile.Sample) string {
 	var labels []string
 	for key, vals := range s.Label {
 		for _, v := range vals {
-			labels = append(labels, key+":"+v)
+			joined := key + ":" + v
+			escaped := strings.ReplaceAll(joined, "\n", `\n`)
+			labels = append(labels, escaped)
 		}
 	}
 	sort.Strings(labels)
-	return strings.Join(labels, `\n`)
+	return strings.Join(labels, "\n")
 }
 
 // isNegative returns true if the node is considered as "negative" for the
diff --git a/internal/graph/graph_test.go b/internal/graph/graph_test.go
index 3f47a73d4..ed6fc2a9d 100644
--- a/internal/graph/graph_test.go
+++ b/internal/graph/graph_test.go
@@ -545,3 +545,18 @@ func TestShortenFunctionName(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestJoinLabels(t *testing.T) {
+	input := &profile.Sample{
+		Label: map[string][]string{
+			"key1": {"v1", "v2"},
+			// value with an embedded newline: is escaped to \n
+			"key2": {"value line1\nline2"},
+		},
+	}
+	const expected = "key1:v1\nkey1:v2\nkey2:value line1\\nline2"
+	output := joinLabels(input)
+	if output != expected {
+		t.Errorf("output=%#v != expected=%#v", output, expected)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/graph/testdata/compose8.dot b/internal/graph/testdata/compose8.dot
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fefb64bbd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/graph/testdata/compose8.dot
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+digraph "testtitle" {
+node [style=filled fillcolor="#f8f8f8"]
+subgraph cluster_L { "label1" [shape=box fontsize=16 label="label1\llabel2\llabel3: \"foo\"\l" tooltip="testtitle"] }
+N1 [label="src\n10 (10.00%)\nof 25 (25.00%)" id="node1" fontsize=22 shape=box tooltip="src (25)" color="#b23c00" fillcolor="#edddd5"]
+N1_0 [label = "label\"quote\"\nline2" id="N1_0" fontsize=8 shape=box3d tooltip="10"]
+N1 -> N1_0 [label=" 10" weight=100 tooltip="10" labeltooltip="10"]
+NN1_0 [label = "numeric\"quote\"\nline2" id="NN1_0" fontsize=8 shape=box3d tooltip="20"]
+N1 -> NN1_0 [label=" 20" weight=100 tooltip="20" labeltooltip="20"]
+N2 [label="dest\n15 (15.00%)\nof 25 (25.00%)" id="node2" fontsize=24 shape=box tooltip="dest (25)" color="#b23c00" fillcolor="#edddd5"]
+N1 -> N2 [label=" 10" weight=11 color="#b28559" tooltip="src -> dest (10)" labeltooltip="src -> dest (10)" minlen=2]
+}