diff --git a/arguments.c b/arguments.c
index e573249a..5b882ea1 100644
--- a/arguments.c
+++ b/arguments.c
@@ -216,8 +216,10 @@ args_escape(const char *s)
 	char			*escaped, *result;
 	int			 flags;
 
-	if (*s == '\0')
-		return (xstrdup(s));
+	if (*s == '\0') {
+		xasprintf(&result, "''");
+		return (result);
+	}
 	if (s[0] != ' ' &&
 	    (strchr(quoted, s[0]) != NULL || s[0] == '~') &&
 	    s[1] == '\0') {