diff --git a/sys/cam/cam.h b/sys/cam/cam.h
--- a/sys/cam/cam.h
+++ b/sys/cam/cam.h
@@ -378,6 +378,8 @@
 		       int entry_size, cam_quirkmatch_t *comp_func);
 
 void	cam_strvis(u_int8_t *dst, const u_int8_t *src, int srclen, int dstlen);
+void	cam_strvis_flag(u_int8_t *dst, const u_int8_t *src, int srclen,
+			int dstlen, uint32_t flags);
 void	cam_strvis_sbuf(struct sbuf *sb, const u_int8_t *src, int srclen,
 			uint32_t flags);
 
diff --git a/sys/cam/cam.c b/sys/cam/cam.c
--- a/sys/cam/cam.c
+++ b/sys/cam/cam.c
@@ -123,38 +123,19 @@
 void
 cam_strvis(u_int8_t *dst, const u_int8_t *src, int srclen, int dstlen)
 {
+	cam_strvis_flag(dst, src, srclen, dstlen,
+	    CAM_STRVIS_FLAG_NONASCII_ESC);
+}
 
-	/* Trim leading/trailing spaces, nulls. */
-	while (srclen > 0 && src[0] == ' ')
-		src++, srclen--;
-	while (srclen > 0
-	    && (src[srclen-1] == ' ' || src[srclen-1] == '\0'))
-		srclen--;
-
-	while (srclen > 0 && dstlen > 1) {
-		u_int8_t *cur_pos = dst;
+void
+cam_strvis_flag(u_int8_t *dst, const u_int8_t *src, int srclen, int dstlen,
+		uint32_t flags)
+{
+	struct sbuf sb;
 
-		if (*src < 0x20 || *src >= 0x80) {
-			/* SCSI-II Specifies that these should never occur. */
-			/* non-printable character */
-			if (dstlen > 4) {
-				*cur_pos++ = '\\';
-				*cur_pos++ = ((*src & 0300) >> 6) + '0';
-				*cur_pos++ = ((*src & 0070) >> 3) + '0';
-				*cur_pos++ = ((*src & 0007) >> 0) + '0';
-			} else {
-				*cur_pos++ = '?';
-			}
-		} else {
-			/* normal character */
-			*cur_pos++ = *src;
-		}
-		src++;
-		srclen--;
-		dstlen -= cur_pos - dst;
-		dst = cur_pos;
-	}
-	*dst = '\0';
+	sbuf_new(&sb, dst, dstlen, SBUF_FIXEDLEN);
+	cam_strvis_sbuf(&sb, src, srclen, flags);
+	sbuf_finish(&sb);
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/sys/cam/nvme/nvme_all.c b/sys/cam/nvme/nvme_all.c
--- a/sys/cam/nvme/nvme_all.c
+++ b/sys/cam/nvme/nvme_all.c
@@ -91,11 +91,14 @@
 {
 
 	sbuf_printf(sb, "<");
-	cam_strvis_sbuf(sb, cdata->mn, sizeof(cdata->mn), 0);
+	cam_strvis_sbuf(sb, cdata->mn, sizeof(cdata->mn),
+	    CAM_STRVIS_FLAG_NONASCII_SPC);
 	sbuf_printf(sb, " ");
-	cam_strvis_sbuf(sb, cdata->fr, sizeof(cdata->fr), 0);
+	cam_strvis_sbuf(sb, cdata->fr, sizeof(cdata->fr),
+	    CAM_STRVIS_FLAG_NONASCII_SPC);
 	sbuf_printf(sb, " ");
-	cam_strvis_sbuf(sb, cdata->sn, sizeof(cdata->sn), 0);
+	cam_strvis_sbuf(sb, cdata->sn, sizeof(cdata->sn),
+	    CAM_STRVIS_FLAG_NONASCII_SPC);
 	sbuf_printf(sb, ">\n");
 }
 
diff --git a/sys/cam/nvme/nvme_da.c b/sys/cam/nvme/nvme_da.c
--- a/sys/cam/nvme/nvme_da.c
+++ b/sys/cam/nvme/nvme_da.c
@@ -930,10 +930,12 @@
 	 * d_ident and d_descr are both far bigger than the length of either
 	 *  the serial or model number strings.
 	 */
-	cam_strvis(disk->d_descr, cd->mn,
-	    NVME_MODEL_NUMBER_LENGTH, sizeof(disk->d_descr));
-	cam_strvis(disk->d_ident, cd->sn,
-	    NVME_SERIAL_NUMBER_LENGTH, sizeof(disk->d_ident));
+	cam_strvis_flag(disk->d_descr, cd->mn, NVME_MODEL_NUMBER_LENGTH,
+	    sizeof(disk->d_descr), CAM_STRVIS_FLAG_NONASCII_SPC);
+
+	cam_strvis_flag(disk->d_ident, cd->sn, NVME_SERIAL_NUMBER_LENGTH,
+	    sizeof(disk->d_ident), CAM_STRVIS_FLAG_NONASCII_SPC);
+
 	disk->d_hba_vendor = cpi.hba_vendor;
 	disk->d_hba_device = cpi.hba_device;
 	disk->d_hba_subvendor = cpi.hba_subvendor;
diff --git a/sys/cam/nvme/nvme_xpt.c b/sys/cam/nvme/nvme_xpt.c
--- a/sys/cam/nvme/nvme_xpt.c
+++ b/sys/cam/nvme/nvme_xpt.c
@@ -376,8 +376,11 @@
 		path->device->serial_num = (u_int8_t *)
 		    malloc(NVME_SERIAL_NUMBER_LENGTH + 1, M_CAMXPT, M_NOWAIT);
 		if (path->device->serial_num != NULL) {
-			cam_strvis(path->device->serial_num, nvme_cdata->sn,
-			    NVME_SERIAL_NUMBER_LENGTH, NVME_SERIAL_NUMBER_LENGTH + 1);
+			cam_strvis_flag(path->device->serial_num,
+			    nvme_cdata->sn, sizeof(nvme_cdata->sn),
+			    NVME_SERIAL_NUMBER_LENGTH + 1,
+			    CAM_STRVIS_FLAG_NONASCII_SPC);
+
 			path->device->serial_num_len =
 			    strlen(path->device->serial_num);
 		}