diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 976f1fa..0eacb53 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 # Changes
 
+* 2.6.next in progress
+  * Fix [#548](https://github.com/seancorfield/honeysql/issues/548) which was a regression introduced in [#526](https://github.com/seancorfield/honeysql/issues/526).
+
 * 2.6.1196 -- 2024-10-06
   * Address [#547](https://github.com/seancorfield/honeysql/issues/547) by adding examples of conditional SQL building with the helpers to the README and the `honey.sql.helpers` ns docstring.
   * Performance optimizations via PRs [#545](https://github.com/seancorfield/honeysql/pull/545) and [#546](https://github.com/seancorfield/honeysql/pull/546) [@alexander-yakushev](https://github.com/alexander-yakushev).
diff --git a/src/honey/sql.cljc b/src/honey/sql.cljc
index 1aec57a..a49bd9e 100644
--- a/src/honey/sql.cljc
+++ b/src/honey/sql.cljc
@@ -415,6 +415,18 @@
   [x]
   (upper-case (str/replace (name x) "-" "_")))
 
+(defn- format-simple-var [x & [c opts]]
+  (let [c (or c
+              (if (keyword? x)
+                #?(:clj (str (.sym ^clojure.lang.Keyword x)) ;; Omits leading colon
+                   :default (subs (str x) 1))
+                (str x)))]
+    (if (str/starts-with? c "'")
+      (do
+        (reset! *formatted-column* true)
+        [(subs c 1)])
+      [(format-entity x opts)])))
+
 (defn- format-var [x & [opts]]
   ;; rather than name/namespace, we want to allow
   ;; for multiple / in the %fun.call case so that
@@ -436,12 +448,8 @@
                   (->numbered-param k)
                   :else
                   ["?" (->param k)]))
-          (str/starts-with? c "'")
-          (do
-            (reset! *formatted-column* true)
-            [(subs c 1)])
           :else
-          [(format-entity x opts)])))
+          (format-simple-var x c opts))))
 
 (defn- format-entity-alias [x]
   (cond (sequential? x)
@@ -1277,7 +1285,7 @@
                 [(butlast coll) (last coll) nil]))]
     (into [(join " " (map sql-kw) prequel)
            (when table
-             (let [[v & more] (format-var table)]
+             (let [[v & more] (format-simple-var table)]
                (when (seq more)
                  (throw (ex-info (str "DDL syntax error at: "
                                       (pr-str table)
diff --git a/test/honey/sql_test.cljc b/test/honey/sql_test.cljc
index 08df655..8e7cb95 100644
--- a/test/honey/sql_test.cljc
+++ b/test/honey/sql_test.cljc
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
             [clojure.test :refer [deftest is testing]]
             [honey.sql :as sut :refer [format]]
             [honey.sql.helpers :as h])
-  #?(:clj (:import (clojure.lang ExceptionInfo))))
+  #?(:clj (:import (clojure.lang ExceptionInfo)
+                   (java.net URLEncoder))))
 
 (deftest mysql-tests
   (is (= ["SELECT * FROM `table` WHERE `id` = ?" 1]
@@ -1387,6 +1388,15 @@ ORDER BY id = ? DESC
     (is (= ["SELECT * FROM `t1` INNER JOIN `t2` USING (`id`) WHERE `t1`.`id` = ?" 1]
            (sut/format '{select * from t1 join (t2 (:using id)) where (= t1/id 1)} {:dialect :mysql})))))
 
+(deftest issue-548-format-var-encoding
+  (is (= ["CREATE TABLE \"With%20Space\""]
+         (sut/format {:create-table "With%20Space"})))
+  (is (= ["CREATE TABLE \"%20WithLeadingSpace\""]
+         (sut/format {:create-table "%20WithLeadingSpace"})))
+  #?(:clj (let [table (URLEncoder/encode "привіт")]
+            (is (= [(str "CREATE TABLE \"" table "\"")]
+                   (sut/format {:create-table table}))))))
+
 (comment
   ;; partial (incorrect!) workaround for #407:
   (sut/format {:select :f.* :from [[:foo [:f :for :system-time]]] :where [:= :f.id 1]})