diff --git a/rc/tools/make.kak b/rc/tools/make.kak
index 3c4fc3ac..1f8467a8 100644
--- a/rc/tools/make.kak
+++ b/rc/tools/make.kak
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ define-command -params .. \
      } make %{ evaluate-commands %sh{
      output=$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}"/kak-make.XXXXXXXX)/fifo
      mkfifo ${output}
-     ( eval ${kak_opt_makecmd} "$@" > ${output} 2>&1 & ) > /dev/null 2>&1 < /dev/null
+     ( eval "${kak_opt_makecmd}" "$@" > ${output} 2>&1 & ) > /dev/null 2>&1 < /dev/null
 
      printf %s\\n "evaluate-commands -try-client '$kak_opt_toolsclient' %{
                edit! -fifo ${output} -scroll *make*