diff --git a/src/option.hh b/src/option.hh
index fd2de5c5..bf838c71 100644
--- a/src/option.hh
+++ b/src/option.hh
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ option_add_from_strings(T& opt, ConstArrayView<String> strs)
 template<typename T>
 constexpr bool option_needs_quoting(Meta::Type<T>)
 {
-    return false;
+    return not std::is_integral<T>::value;
 }
 
 template<typename P, typename T>
diff --git a/src/string_utils.hh b/src/string_utils.hh
index 0a6c2594..558ba62f 100644
--- a/src/string_utils.hh
+++ b/src/string_utils.hh
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ 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(); }
-constexpr bool option_needs_quoting(Meta::Type<String>) { return true; }
 
 template<size_t N>
 struct InplaceString