diff --git a/src/aarecommon/utils/paths.py b/src/aarecommon/utils/paths.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9dea1f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/aarecommon/utils/paths.py
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import re
+
+
+def clean_filename(filename: str) -> str:
+    cleaned = re.sub(r"[^A-Za-z0-9._-]", "_", filename.strip())
+    cleaned = cleaned.strip("._-")
+    if not cleaned:
+        raise ValueError("Filename is empty after sanitization.")
+    return cleaned