diff --git a/t/exit.t b/t/exit.t
index 2b17ce06a..e32e98631 100644
--- a/t/exit.t
+++ b/t/exit.t
@@ -30,9 +30,10 @@ if( $^O eq 'VMS' ) {
     # Quiet noisy 'SYS$ABORT'
     $Perl .= q{ -"I../lib"} if $ENV{PERL_CORE};
     $Perl .= q{ -"Mvmsish=hushed"};
+} else {
+    $Perl = qq("$Perl"); # protect from shell if spaces
 }
 
-
 eval { require POSIX; &POSIX::WEXITSTATUS(0) };
 if( $@ ) {
     *exitstatus = sub { $_[0] >> 8 };