diff --git a/kittens/ssh/main.py b/kittens/ssh/main.py
index 73c9ec853..79a53edb6 100644
--- a/kittens/ssh/main.py
+++ b/kittens/ssh/main.py
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ def quote_env_val(x: str, literal_quote: bool = False) -> str:
         x = quote_pat.sub(r'\\\1', x)
         x = x.replace('$', r'\$')
         return f'"{x}"'
-    return f'{x}'
+    return f"'{x}'"
 
 
 def serialize_env(literal_env: Dict[str, str], env: Dict[str, str], base_env: Dict[str, str], for_python: bool = False) -> bytes: