diff --git a/kakushi/himitsu.py b/kakushi/himitsu.py
index 557d793..409c185 100644
--- a/kakushi/himitsu.py
+++ b/kakushi/himitsu.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ def base16_encode(key: str) -> str:
             char = string.ascii_uppercase[idx]
         res += char
     return res
-        
+
 def base16_decode(key: str) -> str:
     res = ''
     for char in key:
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ def base16_decode(key: str) -> str:
     return bytes.fromhex(res).decode()
 
 def escape_key(key: str) -> str:
+    if key == 'secret!':
+        return key
     if not re.fullmatch(keyre, key):
         return 'based_' + base16_encode(key)
     return key