"Error: Could not lookup host: root" when using passwords with non-alphanumeric characters

I run

ovftool vi://root:cFnD_MNi#ba@10.20.30.40

and i get

Error: Could not lookup host: root

However, if i run

ovftool vi://anotheruser:abc123@10.20.30.40

It does work.

So apparently ovftool can't handle special characters in the password. Any way to get around this without changing the root password?

Version: OVFTool 4.0.0. for 64 bit windows 7