diff --git a/src/charm_state.py b/src/charm_state.py
index fd475f1b8..65aa3f2b7 100644
--- a/src/charm_state.py
+++ b/src/charm_state.py
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ def _valid_storage_size_str(size: str) -> bool:
     return size[-3:] in valid_suffixes and size[:-3].isdigit()
 
 
-WORD_ONLY_REGEX = re.compile("^\\w+$")
+WORD_ONLY_REGEX = re.compile("^[\\w\\-]+$")
 
 
 def _parse_labels(labels: str) -> tuple[str, ...]:
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_charm_state.py b/tests/unit/test_charm_state.py
index 3559bb7da..77807366c 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_charm_state.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_charm_state.py
@@ -371,8 +371,14 @@ def test__parse_labels_invalid_labels(label_str: str, falsy_labels: tuple[str]):
         pytest.param(" a, b,   c", ("a", "b", "c"), id="comma separated labels with space"),
         pytest.param("1234", ("1234",), id="numeric label"),
         pytest.param("_", ("_",), id="underscore"),
+        pytest.param("-", ("-",), id="dash only"),
         pytest.param("_test_", ("_test_",), id="alphabetical with underscore"),
         pytest.param("_test1234_", ("_test1234_",), id="alphanumeric with underscore"),
+        pytest.param("x-large", ("x-large",), id="dash word"),
+        pytest.param("x-large, two-xlarge", ("x-large", "two-xlarge"), id="dash words"),
+        pytest.param(
+            "x-large_1, two-xlarge", ("x-large_1", "two-xlarge"), id="dash underscore words"
+        ),
     ],
 )
 def test__parse_labels(label_str: str, expected_labels: tuple[str]):