diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index e864cc123de..a5389b138c2 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2135,6 +2135,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "git-hash 0.10.1",
  "git-pack",
  "git-packetline",
+ "git-quote 0.4.0",
  "git-sec 0.6.1",
  "git-url",
  "maybe-async",
diff --git a/git-quote/src/ansi_c.rs b/git-quote/src/ansi_c.rs
index d91f93b280e..f271a4a41bb 100644
--- a/git-quote/src/ansi_c.rs
+++ b/git-quote/src/ansi_c.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
+///
 pub mod undo {
     use bstr::{BStr, BString};
     use quick_error::quick_error;
 
     quick_error! {
+        /// The error returned by [ansi_c][crate::ansi_c::undo()].
         #[derive(Debug)]
+        #[allow(missing_docs)]
         pub enum Error {
             InvalidInput { message: String, input: BString } {
                 display("{}: {:?}", message, input)
diff --git a/git-quote/src/lib.rs b/git-quote/src/lib.rs
index 72dbe996778..b86336b3b0b 100644
--- a/git-quote/src/lib.rs
+++ b/git-quote/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
-#![deny(rust_2018_idioms)]
+//! Provides functions to quote and possibly unquote strings with different quoting styles.
+#![deny(rust_2018_idioms, missing_docs)]
 #![forbid(unsafe_code)]
 
 ///
 pub mod ansi_c;
+
+mod single;
+pub use single::single;
diff --git a/git-quote/src/single.rs b/git-quote/src/single.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..648b49f57e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/git-quote/src/single.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+use bstr::{BStr, BString, ByteSlice};
+
+/// Transforms the given `value` to be suitable for use as an argument for Bourne shells by wrapping it into single quotes.
+///
+/// Every single-quote `'` is escaped with `\'`, every exclamation mark `!` is escaped with `\!`, and the entire string is enclosed
+/// in single quotes.
+pub fn single(mut value: &BStr) -> BString {
+    let mut quoted = BString::new(b"'".to_vec());
+
+    while let Some(pos) = value.find_byteset(b"!'") {
+        quoted.extend_from_slice(&value[..pos]);
+        quoted.push(b'\\');
+        quoted.push(value[pos]);
+
+        value = &value[pos + 1..];
+    }
+
+    quoted.extend_from_slice(value);
+    quoted.push(b'\'');
+    quoted
+}
diff --git a/git-quote/tests/quote.rs b/git-quote/tests/quote.rs
index 370f5baa1d5..06464365aa0 100644
--- a/git-quote/tests/quote.rs
+++ b/git-quote/tests/quote.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,39 @@
+mod single {
+    use git_quote::single;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn empty() {
+        assert_eq!(single("".into()), "''");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn unquoted_becomes_quoted() {
+        assert_eq!(single("a".into()), "'a'");
+        assert_eq!(single("a b".into()), "'a b'");
+        assert_eq!(single("a\nb".into()), "'a\nb'", "newlines play no role");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn existing_exclamation_mark_gets_escaped() {
+        assert_eq!(single(r"a!b".into()), r"'a\!b'");
+        assert_eq!(single(r"!".into()), r"'\!'");
+        assert_eq!(single(r"\!".into()), r"'\\!'");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn existing_quote_gets_escaped() {
+        assert_eq!(single(r"a'b".into()), r"'a\'b'");
+        assert_eq!(single(r"'".into()), r"'\''");
+        assert_eq!(single(r"'\''".into()), r"'\'\\'\''");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn complex() {
+        let expected = "'\0cmd `arg` $var\\\\'ring\\// arg \"quoted\\!\"'";
+        assert_eq!(single("\0cmd `arg` $var\\'ring\\// arg \"quoted!\"".into()), expected);
+    }
+}
+
 mod ansi_c {
     mod undo {
         use bstr::ByteSlice;
diff --git a/git-transport/Cargo.toml b/git-transport/Cargo.toml
index 45ebe296dd4..4393eaf8f2c 100644
--- a/git-transport/Cargo.toml
+++ b/git-transport/Cargo.toml
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ git-url = { version = "^0.13.1", path = "../git-url" }
 git-sec = { version = "^0.6.1", path = "../git-sec" }
 git-packetline = { version = "^0.14.1", path = "../git-packetline" }
 git-credentials = { version = "^0.9.0", path = "../git-credentials", optional = true }
+git-quote = { version = "^0.4.0", path = "../git-quote" }
 
 serde = { version = "1.0.114", optional = true, default-features = false, features = ["std", "derive"]}
 bstr = { version = "1.0.1", default-features = false, features = ["std", "unicode"] }
diff --git a/git-transport/src/client/blocking_io/file.rs b/git-transport/src/client/blocking_io/file.rs
index c580cf9e28b..8f866de8f92 100644
--- a/git-transport/src/client/blocking_io/file.rs
+++ b/git-transport/src/client/blocking_io/file.rs
@@ -213,10 +213,13 @@ impl client::Transport for SpawnProcessOnDemand {
         };
         cmd.stdin = Stdio::piped();
         cmd.stdout = Stdio::piped();
-        if self.ssh_cmd.is_some() {
+        let repo_path = if self.ssh_cmd.is_some() {
             cmd.args.push(service.as_str().into());
-        }
-        cmd.args.push(self.path.to_os_str_lossy().into_owned());
+            git_quote::single(self.path.as_ref()).to_os_str_lossy().into_owned()
+        } else {
+            self.path.to_os_str_lossy().into_owned()
+        };
+        cmd.args.push(repo_path);
 
         let mut cmd = std::process::Command::from(cmd);
         for env_to_remove in ENV_VARS_TO_REMOVE {