diff --git a/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/arguments/build.sbt b/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/arguments/build.sbt
index 4c441e7dd..9d9f79162 100644
--- a/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/arguments/build.sbt
+++ b/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/arguments/build.sbt
@@ -2,8 +2,16 @@ val scalatest = "org.scalatest" %% "scalatest" % "3.0.5"
 
 ThisBuild / scalaVersion := "2.12.10"
 
+val foo = settingKey[Seq[String]]("foo")
+val checkFoo = inputKey[Unit]("check contents of foo")
+
 lazy val root = (project in file("."))
   .settings(
+    foo := Nil,
+    checkFoo := {
+      val arguments = Def.spaceDelimited("").parsed.mkString(" ")
+      assert(foo.value.contains(arguments))
+    },
     libraryDependencies += scalatest % Test,
     // testOptions in Test += Tests.Argument(TestFrameworks.ScalaTest, "-f", "result.txt", "-eNDXEHLO")
     testOptions in Configurations.Test ++= {
diff --git a/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/arguments/test b/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/arguments/test
index 90bdc402e..792eb6bc7 100644
--- a/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/arguments/test
+++ b/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/arguments/test
@@ -26,3 +26,7 @@ $ touch failure3
 $ delete failure3
 
 > set Compile / scalacOptions += "-Xfatal-warnings"
+
+> set foo += "an argument with spaces"
+
+> checkFoo an argument with spaces
diff --git a/scripted-sbt-redux/src/main/scala/sbt/scriptedtest/SbtHandler.scala b/scripted-sbt-redux/src/main/scala/sbt/scriptedtest/SbtHandler.scala
index 842662a95..78ec27c87 100644
--- a/scripted-sbt-redux/src/main/scala/sbt/scriptedtest/SbtHandler.scala
+++ b/scripted-sbt-redux/src/main/scala/sbt/scriptedtest/SbtHandler.scala
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ final class SbtHandler(remoteSbtCreator: RemoteSbtCreator) extends StatementHand
 
   def apply(command: String, arguments: List[String], i: Option[SbtInstance]): Option[SbtInstance] =
     onSbtInstance(i) { (_, server) =>
-      send((command :: arguments.map(escape)).mkString(" "), server)
+      send((command :: arguments).mkString(" "), server)
       receive(s"$command failed", server)
     }
 
@@ -80,12 +80,4 @@ final class SbtHandler(remoteSbtCreator: RemoteSbtCreator) extends StatementHand
     catch { case _: SocketException => throw new TestFailed("Remote sbt initialization failed") }
     p
   }
-
-  // if the argument contains spaces, enclose it in quotes, quoting backslashes and quotes
-  def escape(argument: String) = {
-    import java.util.regex.Pattern.{ quote => q }
-    if (argument.contains(" "))
-      "\"" + argument.replaceAll(q("""\"""), """\\""").replaceAll(q("\""), "\\\"") + "\""
-    else argument
-  }
 }