diff --git a/src/buildstream/element.py b/src/buildstream/element.py
index 621568e63..626bd386d 100644
--- a/src/buildstream/element.py
+++ b/src/buildstream/element.py
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
 
 import os
 import re
+import shlex
 import stat
 import copy
 import warnings
@@ -2165,7 +2166,7 @@ def _write_script(self, directory):
 
         variable_string = ""
         for var, val in self.get_environment().items():
-            variable_string += "{0}={1} ".format(var, val)
+            variable_string += "{0}={1} ".format(var, shlex.quote(val))
 
         script = script_template.format(
             name=self.normal_name,