diff --git a/libfwupdplugin/README.md b/libfwupdplugin/README.md
index 0e54f0c98..77e8e3875 100644
--- a/libfwupdplugin/README.md
+++ b/libfwupdplugin/README.md
@@ -72,3 +72,4 @@ Remember: Plugins should be upstream!
 * `fu_common_bytes_compare_raw()`: Use `fu_memcmp_safe()` instead
 * `fu_common_spawn_sync()`: Use `g_spawn_sync()` instead, or ideally not at all!
 * `fu_common_extract_archive()`: Use `FuArchiveFirmware()` instead.
+* `fu_common_instance_id_strsafe()`: Use `fu_device_add_instance_strsafe()` instead.
diff --git a/libfwupdplugin/fu-common.c b/libfwupdplugin/fu-common.c
index 0edf126ab..6771d7f54 100644
--- a/libfwupdplugin/fu-common.c
+++ b/libfwupdplugin/fu-common.c
@@ -1946,65 +1946,3 @@ fu_common_reset_firmware_search_path(GError **error)
 
 	return fu_common_set_firmware_search_path(contents, error);
 }
-
-static gboolean
-fu_strsafe_instance_id_is_valid_char(gchar c)
-{
-	if (c == ' ')
-		return FALSE;
-	if (c == '_')
-		return FALSE;
-	if (c == '&')
-		return FALSE;
-	if (c == '/')
-		return FALSE;
-	if (c == '\\')
-		return FALSE;
-	return g_ascii_isprint(c);
-}
-
-/**
- * fu_common_instance_id_strsafe:
- * @str: (nullable): part of the string to sanitize
- *
- * Sanitize the string used as part of the InstanceID.
- *
- * Returns: a string, or %NULL if invalid
- *
- * Since: 1.7.6
- **/
-gchar *
-fu_common_instance_id_strsafe(const gchar *str)
-{
-	g_autoptr(GString) tmp = g_string_new(NULL);
-	gboolean has_content = FALSE;
-
-	/* sanity check */
-	if (str == NULL)
-		return NULL;
-
-	/* use - to replace problematic chars -- but only once per section */
-	for (guint i = 0; str[i] != '\0'; i++) {
-		gchar c = str[i];
-		if (!fu_strsafe_instance_id_is_valid_char(c)) {
-			if (has_content) {
-				g_string_append_c(tmp, '-');
-				has_content = FALSE;
-			}
-		} else {
-			g_string_append_c(tmp, c);
-			has_content = TRUE;
-		}
-	}
-
-	/* remove any trailing replacements */
-	if (tmp->len > 0 && tmp->str[tmp->len - 1] == '-')
-		g_string_truncate(tmp, tmp->len - 1);
-
-	/* nothing left! */
-	if (tmp->len == 0)
-		return NULL;
-
-	/* success */
-	return g_string_free(g_steal_pointer(&tmp), FALSE);
-}
diff --git a/libfwupdplugin/fu-common.h b/libfwupdplugin/fu-common.h
index c33b470ef..6acd49953 100644
--- a/libfwupdplugin/fu-common.h
+++ b/libfwupdplugin/fu-common.h
@@ -207,8 +207,6 @@ fu_common_dump_full(const gchar *log_domain,
 		    FuDumpFlags flags);
 void
 fu_common_dump_bytes(const gchar *log_domain, const gchar *title, GBytes *bytes);
-gchar *
-fu_common_instance_id_strsafe(const gchar *str);
 gboolean
 fu_common_kernel_locked_down(void);
 gboolean
diff --git a/libfwupdplugin/fu-device.c b/libfwupdplugin/fu-device.c
index 5bff35dbe..67cb07940 100644
--- a/libfwupdplugin/fu-device.c
+++ b/libfwupdplugin/fu-device.c
@@ -5005,6 +5005,59 @@ fu_device_add_instance_str(FuDevice *self, const gchar *key, const gchar *value)
 	g_hash_table_insert(priv->instance_hash, g_strdup(key), g_strdup(value));
 }
 
+static gboolean
+fu_strsafe_instance_id_is_valid_char(gchar c)
+{
+	if (c == ' ')
+		return FALSE;
+	if (c == '_')
+		return FALSE;
+	if (c == '&')
+		return FALSE;
+	if (c == '/')
+		return FALSE;
+	if (c == '\\')
+		return FALSE;
+	return g_ascii_isprint(c);
+}
+
+/* NOTE: we can't use fu_strsafe as this behavior is now effectively ABI */
+static gchar *
+fu_common_instance_id_strsafe(const gchar *str)
+{
+	g_autoptr(GString) tmp = g_string_new(NULL);
+	gboolean has_content = FALSE;
+
+	/* sanity check */
+	if (str == NULL)
+		return NULL;
+
+	/* use - to replace problematic chars -- but only once per section */
+	for (guint i = 0; str[i] != '\0'; i++) {
+		gchar c = str[i];
+		if (!fu_strsafe_instance_id_is_valid_char(c)) {
+			if (has_content) {
+				g_string_append_c(tmp, '-');
+				has_content = FALSE;
+			}
+		} else {
+			g_string_append_c(tmp, c);
+			has_content = TRUE;
+		}
+	}
+
+	/* remove any trailing replacements */
+	if (tmp->len > 0 && tmp->str[tmp->len - 1] == '-')
+		g_string_truncate(tmp, tmp->len - 1);
+
+	/* nothing left! */
+	if (tmp->len == 0)
+		return NULL;
+
+	/* success */
+	return g_string_free(g_steal_pointer(&tmp), FALSE);
+}
+
 /**
  * fu_device_add_instance_strsafe:
  * @self: a #FuDevice
diff --git a/libfwupdplugin/fu-self-test.c b/libfwupdplugin/fu-self-test.c
index 3540f79f0..27f4b51b2 100644
--- a/libfwupdplugin/fu-self-test.c
+++ b/libfwupdplugin/fu-self-test.c
@@ -579,8 +579,21 @@ fu_strsafe_func(void)
 		    {"dave\x03\x04XXX", "dave..X"},
 		    {"\x03\x03", NULL},
 		    {NULL, NULL}};
-	g_autofree gchar *id_part = fu_common_instance_id_strsafe("_ _LEN&VO&\\&");
-	g_assert_cmpstr(id_part, ==, "LEN-VO");
+	GPtrArray *instance_ids;
+	gboolean ret;
+	g_autoptr(FuContext) ctx = fu_context_new();
+	g_autoptr(FuDevice) dev = fu_device_new(ctx);
+	g_autoptr(GError) error = NULL;
+
+	/* check bespoke legacy instance ID behavior */
+	fu_device_add_instance_strsafe(dev, "KEY", "_ _LEN&VO&\\&");
+	ret = fu_device_build_instance_id(dev, &error, "SUB", "KEY", NULL);
+	g_assert_no_error(error);
+	g_assert_true(ret);
+	instance_ids = fu_device_get_instance_ids(dev);
+	g_assert_cmpint(instance_ids->len, ==, 1);
+	g_assert_cmpstr(g_ptr_array_index(instance_ids, 0), ==, "SUB\\KEY_LEN-VO");
+
 	for (guint i = 0; strs[i].in != NULL; i++) {
 		g_autofree gchar *tmp = fu_strsafe(strs[i].in, 7);
 		g_assert_cmpstr(tmp, ==, strs[i].op);
diff --git a/libfwupdplugin/fwupdplugin.map b/libfwupdplugin/fwupdplugin.map
index fcffeca68..3d3939200 100644
--- a/libfwupdplugin/fwupdplugin.map
+++ b/libfwupdplugin/fwupdplugin.map
@@ -913,7 +913,6 @@ LIBFWUPDPLUGIN_1.7.4 {
 
 LIBFWUPDPLUGIN_1.7.6 {
   global:
-    fu_common_instance_id_strsafe;
     fu_common_version_ensure_semver_full;
     fu_udev_device_get_parent_with_subsystem;
   local: *;