diff --git a/handlers/rsync.in b/handlers/rsync.in
index ad8e64f4e68e0bd5afaa6357f3e473b73f0c71ee..3108b37e1b7aa2e964432ce22741729340975519 100644
--- a/handlers/rsync.in
+++ b/handlers/rsync.in
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ function eval_config {
     mv=move_files
   fi
 
-  excludes=`echo "$exclude" | @SED@ 's/^/--exclude=/g' -e 's/ / --exclude=/g'`
+  excludes=`echo "$exclude" | @SED@ "s/^/--exclude='/g" -e "s/ /' --exclude='/g" -e "s/$/'/"`
 
 }