diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/String.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/String.hs
index a3ec931cf..7721b9aff 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/String.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/String.hs
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ module Hledger.Utils.String (
  -- quotechars,
  -- whitespacechars,
  words',
- unwords',
  stripAnsi,
  -- * single-line layout
  strip,
@@ -165,26 +164,25 @@ singleQuote s = "'"++s++"'"
 -- >>> quoteForCommandLine "\""
 -- "'\"'"
 -- >>> quoteForCommandLine "$"
--- "'\\$'"
+-- "'$'"
 --
 quoteForCommandLine :: String -> String
 quoteForCommandLine s
-  | any (`elem` s) (quotechars++whitespacechars++shellchars) = singleQuote $ quoteShellChars s
+  | any (`elem` s) (quotechars++whitespacechars++shellchars) = singleQuote $ escapeSingleQuotes s
   | otherwise = s
 
--- | Try to backslash-quote common shell-significant characters in this string.
--- Doesn't handle single quotes, & probably others.
-quoteShellChars :: String -> String
-quoteShellChars = concatMap escapeShellChar
+-- | Escape single quotes appearing in a string we're protecting by wrapping in single quotes
+escapeSingleQuotes :: String -> String
+escapeSingleQuotes = concatMap escapeSingleQuote
   where
-    escapeShellChar c | c `elem` shellchars = ['\\',c]
-    escapeShellChar c = [c]
+    escapeSingleQuote c | c `elem` "'" = ['\\',c]
+    escapeSingleQuote c = [c]
 
 quotechars, whitespacechars, redirectchars, shellchars :: [Char]
 quotechars      = "'\""
 whitespacechars = " \t\n\r"
 redirectchars   = "<>"
-shellchars      = "<>(){}[]$&?#!~`"
+shellchars      = "<>(){}[]$&?#!~`*+\\"
 
 -- | Quote-aware version of words - don't split on spaces which are inside quotes.
 -- NB correctly handles "a'b" but not "''a''". Can raise an error if parsing fails.
@@ -198,10 +196,6 @@ words' s  = map stripquotes $ fromparse $ parsewithString p s  -- PARTIAL
       singleQuotedPattern = between (char '\'') (char '\'') (many $ noneOf "'")
       doubleQuotedPattern = between (char '"') (char '"') (many $ noneOf "\"")
 
--- | Quote-aware version of unwords - single-quote strings which contain whitespace
-unwords' :: [String] -> String
-unwords' = unwords . map quoteIfNeeded
-
 -- | Strip one matching pair of single or double quotes on the ends of a string.
 stripquotes :: String -> String
 stripquotes s = if isSingleQuoted s || isDoubleQuoted s then init $ tailErr s else s  -- PARTIAL tailErr won't fail because isDoubleQuoted
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/Text.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/Text.hs
index c33783d4c..2cb58c7ed 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/Text.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/Text.hs
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ module Hledger.Utils.Text
   -- escapeSingleQuotes,
   -- escapeQuotes,
   -- words',
-  -- unwords',
   stripquotes,
   -- isSingleQuoted,
   -- isDoubleQuoted,
@@ -162,10 +161,6 @@ escapeBackslash = T.replace "\\" "\\\\"
 --       singleQuotedPattern = between (char '\'') (char '\'') (many $ noneOf "'")
 --       doubleQuotedPattern = between (char '"') (char '"') (many $ noneOf "\"")
 
--- -- | Quote-aware version of unwords - single-quote strings which contain whitespace
--- unwords' :: [Text] -> Text
--- unwords' = T.unwords . map quoteIfNeeded
-
 -- | Strip one matching pair of single or double quotes on the ends of a string.
 stripquotes :: Text -> Text
 stripquotes s = if isSingleQuoted s || isDoubleQuoted s then T.init $ T.tail s else s