diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils.hs
index 34d66c43c..dbb30a8cb 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils.hs
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ words' s  = map stripquotes $ fromparse $ parsewith p s
 
 -- | Quote-aware version of unwords - single-quote strings which contain whitespace
 unwords' :: [String] -> String
-unwords' = unwords . map singleQuoteIfNeeded
+unwords' = unwords . map quoteIfNeeded
 
 -- | Strip one matching pair of single or double quotes on the ends of a string.
 stripquotes :: String -> String
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Main.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Main.hs
index 1b748bdae..dca74b540 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Main.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Main.hs
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ main = do
       | isExternalCommand = do
           let shellcmd = printf "%s-%s %s" progname cmd (unwords' argsaftercmd) :: String
           dbgM "external command selected" cmd
-          dbgM "external command arguments" argsaftercmd
+          dbgM "external command arguments" (map quoteIfNeeded argsaftercmd)
           dbgM "running shell command" shellcmd
           system shellcmd >>= exitWith