diff --git a/__tests__/lib/cli/format.js b/__tests__/lib/cli/format.js
index 26dd69ba1..09f19a7e5 100644
--- a/__tests__/lib/cli/format.js
+++ b/__tests__/lib/cli/format.js
@@ -33,7 +33,15 @@ describe( 'utils/cli/format', () => {
 			},
 			{
 				input: [ '{"json":broken json with spaces}' ],
-				expected: [ '"{"json":broken json with spaces}"' ],
+				expected: [ '"{\\"json\\":broken json with spaces}"' ],
+			},
+			{
+				input: [ '--foo=bar1 "bar2" "bar3"' ],
+				expected: [ '--foo="bar1 \\"bar2\\" \\"bar3\\""' ],
+			},
+			{
+				input: [ '--foo', 'bar1 "bar2" "bar3"' ],
+				expected: [ '--foo', '"bar1 \\"bar2\\" \\"bar3\\""' ],
 			},
 		] )( 'should requote args when needed - %o', ( { input, expected } ) => {
 			const result = requoteArgs( input );
diff --git a/src/lib/cli/format.ts b/src/lib/cli/format.ts
index c6448a450..6697477c4 100644
--- a/src/lib/cli/format.ts
+++ b/src/lib/cli/format.ts
@@ -134,11 +134,11 @@ export function keyValue( values: Tuple[] ): string {
 export function requoteArgs( args: string[] ): string[] {
 	return args.map( arg => {
 		if ( arg.includes( '--' ) && arg.includes( '=' ) && arg.includes( ' ' ) ) {
-			return arg.replace( /^--([^=]*)=(.*)$/, '--$1="$2"' );
+			return arg.replace( /"/g, '\\"' ).replace( /^--([^=]*)=(.*)$/, '--$1="$2"' );
 		}
 
 		if ( arg.includes( ' ' ) && ! isJsonObject( arg ) ) {
-			return `"${ arg }"`;
+			return `"${ arg.replace( /"/g, '\\"' ) }"`;
 		}
 
 		return arg;