diff --git a/packages/qwik-speak/tools/core/autokeys.ts b/packages/qwik-speak/tools/core/autokeys.ts
index a001f20..5463e8f 100644
--- a/packages/qwik-speak/tools/core/autokeys.ts
+++ b/packages/qwik-speak/tools/core/autokeys.ts
@@ -36,45 +36,62 @@ export function generateAutoKey(input: string | number | Record<string, any>) {
 /**
  * Evaluate if the key could be an existing object path
  */
-export function isObjectPath(key: string): boolean {
-  const regex = /^(?!\.)(?!.*\.\s)(?!.*\s\.)(?!.*\.$)(?=.*\..*)[^\s]+$/;
-  return regex.test(key);
+export function isObjectPath(key: string, separator: string): boolean {
+  const regex = new RegExp(`^(?!\\${separator})(?!.*\\${separator}\\s)(?!.*\\s\\${separator})(?!.*\\${separator}$)(?=.*\\${separator}.*[^\\s]+)$`);
+  if (!regex.test(key)) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const segments = key.split(separator);
+  const variableNameRegex = /^[a-zA-Z_$][0-9a-zA-Z_$]*$/;
+  for (const segment of segments) {
+    if (!variableNameRegex.test(segment)) {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return true;
 }
 
 /**
- * Evaluate if the key could be an existing object path. If the path does no exist in an asset, it will return false.
+ * Evaluate if the key could be an existing object path. If the path does not exist in an asset, it will return false.
  * It will return true if the path exists in all assets
  */
 export function isExistingKey(data: Map<string, Translation> | Translation, path: string, keySeparator: string) {
   const keys = path.split(keySeparator);
+  let keyFound = false;
 
   // Iterate if data is a Map
   if (data instanceof Map) {
     for (const translation of data.values()) {
       let value = translation;
       for (const key of keys) {
-        if (value[key] === undefined) {
-          return false;
+        if (value[key] !== undefined) {
+          keyFound = true;
+        } else {
+          keyFound = false;
+          break;
         }
         value = value[key];
       }
+      if (!keyFound) {
+        break;
+      }
     }
-    return true;
-  }
-
-  // Iterate if data is an object
-  if (typeof data === 'object') {
+  } else if (typeof data === 'object') {
     let value = data;
     for (const key of keys) {
-      if (value[key] === undefined) {
-        return false;
+      if (value[key] !== undefined) {
+        keyFound = true;
+      } else {
+        keyFound = false;
+        break;
       }
       value = value[key];
     }
-    return true;
   }
 
-  return true;
+  return keyFound;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/qwik-speak/tools/extract/index.ts b/packages/qwik-speak/tools/extract/index.ts
index 4d7d063..265c5d5 100644
--- a/packages/qwik-speak/tools/extract/index.ts
+++ b/packages/qwik-speak/tools/extract/index.ts
@@ -353,9 +353,12 @@ export async function qwikSpeakExtract(options: QwikSpeakExtractOptions) {
 
     if (resolvedOptions.autoKeys) {
       // Auto keys should be backward compatible with existing keys. We don't want to override them.
-      // Let's be conservative and only generate auto keys for keys that have no default value, don't resemble
-      // an object path and don't already exist in the assets.
-      if (key && !defaultValue && !isObjectPath(key) && !isExistingKey(assetsData, key, resolvedOptions.keySeparator)) {
+      if (
+        key
+        && !defaultValue
+        && !isExistingKey(assetsData, key, resolvedOptions.keySeparator)
+        && !isObjectPath(key, resolvedOptions.keySeparator)
+      ) {
         defaultValue = `${key}`;
         key = generateAutoKey(key);
       }