diff --git a/src/buffer.cc b/src/buffer.cc
index 17c4a34e..60dd5ba9 100644
--- a/src/buffer.cc
+++ b/src/buffer.cc
@@ -685,7 +685,7 @@ void Buffer::on_option_changed(const Option& option)
             m_flags &= ~Flags::ReadOnly;
     }
     run_hook_in_own_context(Hook::BufSetOption,
-                            format("{}={}", option.name(), option.get_as_string(Quoting::Kakoune)));
+                            format("{}={}", option.name(), option.get_as_string(Quoting::Raw)));
 }
 
 void Buffer::run_hook_in_own_context(Hook hook, StringView param, String client_name)
diff --git a/src/command_manager.cc b/src/command_manager.cc
index 64b12a32..36f03ec4 100644
--- a/src/command_manager.cc
+++ b/src/command_manager.cc
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ Token parse_percent_token(Reader& reader, bool throw_on_unterminated)
 
 auto expand_option(Option& opt, std::true_type)
 {
-    return opt.get_as_string(Quoting::Kakoune);
+    return opt.get_as_string(Quoting::Raw);
 }
 
 auto expand_option(Option& opt, std::false_type)
diff --git a/src/normal.cc b/src/normal.cc
index 565f0472..2fb66e49 100644
--- a/src/normal.cc
+++ b/src/normal.cc
@@ -1330,8 +1330,8 @@ void select_object(Context& context, NormalParams params)
             EnvVarMap env_vars = {
                 { "count", to_string(params.count) },
                 { "register", String{&params.reg, 1} },
-                { "select_mode", option_to_string(mode) },
-                { "object_flags", option_to_string(flags) }
+                { "select_mode", option_to_string(mode, Quoting::Raw) },
+                { "object_flags", option_to_string(flags, Quoting::Raw) }
             };
             command(context, std::move(env_vars));
             return;
diff --git a/src/option.hh b/src/option.hh
index bf838c71..3c114b30 100644
--- a/src/option.hh
+++ b/src/option.hh
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ namespace Kakoune
 {
 
 class String;
+enum class Quoting;
 
 // Forward declare functions that wont get found by ADL
 inline String option_to_string(int opt);
@@ -27,10 +28,10 @@ option_from_strings(Meta::Type<T>, ConstArrayView<String> strs)
 }
 
 template<typename T>
-Vector<decltype(option_to_string(std::declval<T>()))>
+Vector<decltype(option_to_string(std::declval<T>(), Quoting{}))>
 option_to_strings(const T& opt)
 {
-    return Vector<String>{option_to_string(opt)};
+    return Vector<String>{option_to_string(opt, Quoting{})};
 }
 
 template<typename T>
@@ -42,12 +43,6 @@ option_add_from_strings(T& opt, ConstArrayView<String> strs)
     return option_add(opt, strs[0]);
 }
 
-template<typename T>
-constexpr bool option_needs_quoting(Meta::Type<T>)
-{
-    return not std::is_integral<T>::value;
-}
-
 template<typename P, typename T>
 struct PrefixedList
 {
diff --git a/src/option_types.hh b/src/option_types.hh
index c6798ef5..5c7b2a9f 100644
--- a/src/option_types.hh
+++ b/src/option_types.hh
@@ -25,20 +25,6 @@ option_to_string(const T& value, Quoting)
     return option_to_string(value);
 }
 
-template<typename T, typename... Rest>
-constexpr bool option_needs_quoting(Meta::Type<T> type, Meta::Type<Rest>... rest)
-{
-    return option_needs_quoting(type) or option_needs_quoting(rest...);
-}
-
-template<typename... Ts>
-String quote_ifn(String str, Quoting quoting)
-{
-    if (option_needs_quoting(Meta::Type<Ts>{}...))
-        return quoter(quoting)(std::move(str));
-    return str;
-}
-
 template<typename T>
 constexpr decltype(T::option_type_name) option_type_name(Meta::Type<T>)
 {
@@ -79,7 +65,7 @@ inline bool option_from_string(Meta::Type<bool>, StringView str)
 }
 constexpr StringView option_type_name(Meta::Type<bool>) { return "bool"; }
 
-inline String option_to_string(Codepoint opt) { return to_string(opt); }
+inline String option_to_string(Codepoint opt, Quoting quoting) { return quoter(quoting)(to_string(opt)); }
 inline Codepoint option_from_string(Meta::Type<Codepoint>, StringView str)
 {
     if (str.char_length() != 1)
@@ -87,18 +73,17 @@ inline Codepoint option_from_string(Meta::Type<Codepoint>, StringView str)
     return str[0_char];
 }
 constexpr StringView option_type_name(Meta::Type<Codepoint>) { return "codepoint"; }
-constexpr bool option_needs_quoting(Meta::Type<Codepoint>) { return true; }
 
 template<typename T, MemoryDomain domain>
 Vector<String> option_to_strings(const Vector<T, domain>& opt)
 {
-    return opt | transform([](const T& t) { return option_to_string(t); }) | gather<Vector<String>>();
+    return opt | transform([](const T& t) { return option_to_string(t, Quoting::Raw); }) | gather<Vector<String>>();
 }
 
 template<typename T, MemoryDomain domain>
 String option_to_string(const Vector<T, domain>& opt, Quoting quoting)
 {
-    return join(opt | transform([=](const T& t) { return quote_ifn<T>(option_to_string(t), quoting); }), ' ', false);
+    return join(opt | transform([=](const T& t) { return option_to_string(t, quoting); }), ' ', false);
 }
 
 template<typename T, MemoryDomain domain>
@@ -136,8 +121,8 @@ Vector<String> option_to_strings(const HashMap<Key, Value, domain>& opt)
 {
     return opt | transform([](auto&& item) {
         return format("{}={}",
-                      escape(option_to_string(item.key), '=', '\\'),
-                      escape(option_to_string(item.value), '=', '\\'));
+                      escape(option_to_string(item.key, Quoting::Raw), '=', '\\'),
+                      escape(option_to_string(item.value, Quoting::Raw), '=', '\\'));
     }) | gather<Vector<String>>();
 }
 
@@ -145,10 +130,10 @@ template<typename Key, typename Value, MemoryDomain domain>
 String option_to_string(const HashMap<Key, Value, domain>& opt, Quoting quoting)
 {
     return join(opt | transform([=](auto&& item) {
-        return quote_ifn<Key, Value>(
+        return quoter(quoting)(
             format("{}={}",
-                   escape(option_to_string(item.key), '=', '\\'),
-                   escape(option_to_string(item.value), '=', '\\')), quoting);
+                   escape(option_to_string(item.key, Quoting::Raw), '=', '\\'),
+                   escape(option_to_string(item.value, Quoting::Raw), '=', '\\')));
     }), ' ', false);
 }
 
@@ -187,15 +172,15 @@ String option_type_name(Meta::Type<HashMap<K, V, D>>)
 constexpr char tuple_separator = '|';
 
 template<typename... Types, size_t... I>
-String option_to_string_impl(const std::tuple<Types...>& opt, std::index_sequence<I...>)
+String option_to_string_impl(Quoting quoting, const std::tuple<Types...>& opt, std::index_sequence<I...>)
 {
-    return join(make_array({option_to_string(std::get<I>(opt))...}), tuple_separator);
+    return join(make_array({option_to_string(std::get<I>(opt), quoting)...}), tuple_separator);
 }
 
 template<typename... Types>
-String option_to_string(const std::tuple<Types...>& opt)
+String option_to_string(const std::tuple<Types...>& opt, Quoting quoting)
 {
-    return option_to_string_impl(opt, std::make_index_sequence<sizeof...(Types)>());
+    return option_to_string_impl(quoting, opt, std::make_index_sequence<sizeof...(Types)>());
 }
 
 template<typename... Types, size_t... I>
@@ -335,7 +320,7 @@ EnableIfWithBitOps<Flags, bool> option_add(Flags& opt, StringView str)
 template<typename P, typename T>
 inline Vector<String> option_to_strings(const PrefixedList<P, T>& opt)
 {
-    Vector<String> res{option_to_string(opt.prefix)};
+    Vector<String> res{option_to_string(opt.prefix, Quoting::Raw)};
     auto list = option_to_strings(opt.list);
     res.insert(res.end(), std::make_move_iterator(list.begin()), std::make_move_iterator(list.end()));
     return res;
diff --git a/src/scope.cc b/src/scope.cc
index fab7ed0d..79da998c 100644
--- a/src/scope.cc
+++ b/src/scope.cc
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ void GlobalScope::on_option_changed(const Option& option)
 {
     Context empty_context{Context::EmptyContextFlag{}};
     hooks().run_hook(Hook::GlobalSetOption,
-                     format("{}={}", option.name(), option.get_as_string(Quoting::Kakoune)),
+                     format("{}={}", option.name(), option.get_as_string(Quoting::Raw)),
                      empty_context);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/string_utils.hh b/src/string_utils.hh
index 92714a0d..224dffc2 100644
--- a/src/string_utils.hh
+++ b/src/string_utils.hh
@@ -65,10 +65,6 @@ Vector<StringView> wrap_lines(StringView text, ColumnCount max_width);
 int str_to_int(StringView str); // throws on error
 Optional<int> str_to_int_ifp(StringView str);
 
-inline String option_to_string(StringView opt) { return opt.str(); }
-inline String option_from_string(Meta::Type<String>, StringView str) { return str.str(); }
-inline bool option_add(String& opt, StringView val) { opt += val; return not val.empty(); }
-
 template<size_t N>
 struct InplaceString
 {
@@ -142,15 +138,27 @@ inline String shell_quote(StringView s)
 
 enum class Quoting
 {
+    Raw,
     Kakoune,
     Shell
 };
 
 inline auto quoter(Quoting quoting)
 {
-    return quoting == Quoting::Kakoune ? &quote : &shell_quote;
+    switch (quoting)
+    {
+        case Quoting::Kakoune: return &quote;
+        case Quoting::Shell: return &shell_quote;
+        case Quoting::Raw:
+        default:
+            return +[](StringView s) { return s.str(); };
+    }
 }
 
+inline String option_to_string(StringView opt, Quoting quoting) { return quoter(quoting)(opt); }
+inline Vector<String> option_to_strings(StringView opt) { return {opt.str()}; }
+inline String option_from_string(Meta::Type<String>, StringView str) { return str.str(); }
+inline bool option_add(String& opt, StringView val) { opt += val; return not val.empty(); }
 
 }
 
diff --git a/src/window.cc b/src/window.cc
index f44ea92b..29ac73de 100644
--- a/src/window.cc
+++ b/src/window.cc
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ void Window::clear_display_buffer()
 void Window::on_option_changed(const Option& option)
 {
     run_hook_in_own_context(Hook::WinSetOption, format("{}={}", option.name(),
-                                                   option.get_as_string(Quoting::Kakoune)));
+                                                   option.get_as_string(Quoting::Raw)));
     // an highlighter might depend on the option, so we need to redraw
     force_redraw();
 }