diff --git a/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/deploy/DeployParser.java b/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/deploy/DeployParser.java
index 9d01766fa..75f0a3b1a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/deploy/DeployParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/deploy/DeployParser.java
@@ -187,6 +187,6 @@ public abstract class DeployParser {
   }
 
   private boolean isWordStart(char ch) {
-    return Character.isLetter(ch);
+    return Character.isLetter(ch) || ch == UNDERSCORE;
   }
 }