diff --git a/src/commands.cc b/src/commands.cc
index 8373bddd..23cf03e8 100644
--- a/src/commands.cc
+++ b/src/commands.cc
@@ -780,9 +780,7 @@ const CommandDesc echo_cmd = {
     CommandCompleter{},
     [](const ParametersParser& parser, Context& context)
     {
-        String message;
-        for (auto& param : parser)
-            message += param + " ";
+        String message = join(parser, ' ', false);
         if (parser.has_option("debug"))
             write_debug(message);
         else
diff --git a/src/string.hh b/src/string.hh
index 54a8b900..62cbe5cc 100644
--- a/src/string.hh
+++ b/src/string.hh
@@ -242,14 +242,14 @@ String escape(StringView str, StringView characters, char escape);
 String unescape(StringView str, StringView characters, char escape);
 
 template<typename Container>
-String join(const Container& container, char joiner)
+String join(const Container& container, char joiner, bool esc_joiner = true)
 {
     String res;
     for (const auto& str : container)
     {
         if (not res.empty())
             res += joiner;
-        res += escape(str, joiner, '\\');
+        res += esc_joiner ? escape(str, joiner, '\\') : str;
     }
     return res;
 }