diff --git a/ament_cmake_test/cmake/ament_add_test.cmake b/ament_cmake_test/cmake/ament_add_test.cmake
index 329b2f9e..7c8723e2 100644
--- a/ament_cmake_test/cmake/ament_add_test.cmake
+++ b/ament_cmake_test/cmake/ament_add_test.cmake
@@ -88,19 +88,7 @@ function(ament_add_test testname)
     list(APPEND cmd_wrapper "--output-file" "${ARG_OUTPUT_FILE}")
   endif()
   if(ARG_ENV)
-    list(APPEND cmd_wrapper "--env")
-    foreach(_env ${ARG_ENV})
-      # TODO(wjwwood): remove this when we have a better way to pass PATH lists
-      #   to environment variables on Windows.
-      if(WIN32)
-        # In order to pass a ;-separated list of paths into this function on
-        # Windows, the calling code may have had to replace ;'s to avoid it
-        # them from being interpreted as a CMake list, so undo that
-        # substitution here.
-        string(REPLACE "\;" ";" _env "${_env}")
-      endif()
-      list(APPEND cmd_wrapper "${_env}")
-    endforeach()
+    list(APPEND cmd_wrapper "--env" ${ARG_ENV})
   endif()
   if(ARG_APPEND_LIBRARY_DIRS)
     if(WIN32)
@@ -117,19 +105,7 @@ function(ament_add_test testname)
     endforeach()
   endif()
   if(ARG_APPEND_ENV)
-    list(APPEND cmd_wrapper "--append-env")
-    foreach(_env ${ARG_APPEND_ENV})
-      # TODO(wjwwood): remove this when we have a better way to pass PATH lists
-      #   to environment variables on Windows.
-      if(WIN32)
-        # In order to pass a ;-separated list of paths into this function on
-        # Windows, the calling code may have had to replace ;'s to avoid it
-        # them from being interpreted as a CMake list, so undo that
-        # substitution here.
-        string(REPLACE "\;" ";" _env "${_env}")
-      endif()
-      list(APPEND cmd_wrapper "${_env}")
-    endforeach()
+    list(APPEND cmd_wrapper "--append-env" ${ARG_APPEND_ENV})
   endif()
   list(APPEND cmd_wrapper "--command" ${ARG_COMMAND})
 
diff --git a/ament_cmake_test/cmake/run_test.py b/ament_cmake_test/cmake/run_test.py
index 83ea42a0..974e3819 100644
--- a/ament_cmake_test/cmake/run_test.py
+++ b/ament_cmake_test/cmake/run_test.py
@@ -129,20 +129,40 @@ def log(msg, **kwargs):
         env = dict(os.environ)
         if args.env:
             log('-- run_test.py: extra environment variables:')
+            previous_key = None
+            updated_env_keys = set()
             for env_str in args.env:
-                key, value = separate_env_vars(env_str, 'env', parser)
-                log(' - {0}={1}'.format(key, value))
+                # if CMake has split a single value containing semicolons
+                # into multiple arguments they are put back together here
+                if previous_key and '=' not in env_str:
+                    key = previous_key
+                    value = env[key] + ';' + env_str
+                else:
+                    key, value = separate_env_vars(env_str, 'env', parser)
                 env[key] = value
+                updated_env_keys.add(key)
+                previous_key = key
+            for key in updated_env_keys:
+                log(' - {0}={1}'.format(key, env[key]))
         if args.append_env:
             log('-- run_test.py: extra environment variables to append:')
+            previous_key = None
             for env_str in args.append_env:
-                key, value = separate_env_vars(env_str, 'append-env', parser)
-                log(' - {0}={1}'.format(key, value))
+                # if CMake has split a single value containing semicolons
+                # into multiple arguments they are put back together here
+                if previous_key and '=' not in env_str:
+                    key = previous_key
+                    value = env[key] + ';' + env_str
+                    log(' - {0}+={1}'.format(key, env_str))
+                else:
+                    key, value = separate_env_vars(env_str, 'append-env', parser)
+                    log(' - {0}+={1}'.format(key, value))
                 if key not in env:
                     env[key] = ''
                 if not env[key].endswith(os.pathsep):
                     env[key] += os.pathsep
                 env[key] += value
+                previous_key = key
 
     log("-- run_test.py: invoking following command in '%s':\n - %s" %
         (os.getcwd(), ' '.join(args.command)))