diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ed37bfd..b110bd5 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -33,12 +33,12 @@ CPPFLAGS += -DSEND_RECEIVE_HISTFILE=\"$(SEND_RECEIVE_HISTFILE)\" \
 picocom : linenoise-1.0/linenoise.o
 linenoise-1.0/linenoise.o : linenoise-1.0/linenoise.c linenoise-1.0/linenoise.h
 
-
-picocom : picocom.o term.o
+picocom : picocom.o term.o split.o
 #	$(LD) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $+ $(LDLIBS)
 
 picocom.o : picocom.c term.h
 term.o : term.c term.h
+split.o : split.c split.h
 
 
 doc : picocom.8 picocom.8.html picocom.8.ps
diff --git a/picocom.c b/picocom.c
index 432e3b7..e4e898c 100644
--- a/picocom.c
+++ b/picocom.c
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 #define _GNU_SOURCE
 #include <getopt.h>
 
+#include "split.h"
 #include "term.h"
 #ifdef LINENOISE
 #include "linenoise-1.0/linenoise.h"
@@ -721,6 +722,9 @@ show_status (int dtr_up)
 
 /**********************************************************************/
 
+#define RUNCMD_ARGS_MAX 32
+#define RUNCMD_EXEC_FAIL 126
+
 void
 establish_child_signal_handlers (void)
 {
@@ -735,10 +739,8 @@ establish_child_signal_handlers (void)
 	sigaction (SIGTERM, &dfl_action, NULL);
 }
 
-#define EXEC "exec "
-
 int
-run_cmd(int fd, ...)
+run_cmd(int fd, const char *cmd, const char *args_extra)
 {
 	pid_t pid;
 	sigset_t sigm, sigm_old;
@@ -781,8 +783,10 @@ run_cmd(int fd, ...)
 	} else {
 		/* child: external program */
 		long fl;
-		char cmd[512];
-
+		int argc;
+		char *argv[RUNCMD_ARGS_MAX + 1];
+		int r;
+			
 		/* unmanage terminal, and reset it to canonical mode */
 		term_remove(STI);
 		/* unmanage serial port fd, without reset */
@@ -796,37 +800,36 @@ run_cmd(int fd, ...)
 		close(STO);
 		dup2(fd, STI);
 		dup2(fd, STO);
-		{
-			/* build command-line */
-			char *c, *ce;
-			const char *s;
-			int n;
-			va_list vls;
-			
-			strcpy(cmd, EXEC);
-			c = &cmd[sizeof(EXEC)- 1];
-			ce = cmd + sizeof(cmd) - 1;
-			va_start(vls, fd);
-			while ( (s = va_arg(vls, const char *)) ) {
-				n = strlen(s);
-				if ( c + n + 1 >= ce ) break;
-				memcpy(c, s, n); c += n;
-				*c++ = ' ';
-			}
-			va_end(vls);
-			*c = '\0';
+		
+		/* build command arguments vector */
+		argc = 0;
+		r = split_quoted(cmd, &argc, argv, RUNCMD_ARGS_MAX);
+		if ( r < 0 ) {
+			fd_printf(STDERR_FILENO, "Cannot parse command\n");
+			exit(RUNCMD_EXEC_FAIL);
+		}
+		r = split_quoted(args_extra, &argc, argv, RUNCMD_ARGS_MAX);
+		if ( r < 0 ) {
+			fd_printf(STDERR_FILENO, "Cannot parse extra args\n");
+			exit(RUNCMD_EXEC_FAIL);
 		}
+		if ( argc < 1 ) {
+			fd_printf(STDERR_FILENO, "No command given\n");
+			exit(RUNCMD_EXEC_FAIL);
+		}	
+		argv[argc] = NULL;
+			
 		/* run extenral command */
-		fd_printf(STDERR_FILENO, "%s\n", &cmd[sizeof(EXEC) - 1]);
+		fd_printf(STDERR_FILENO, "$ %s %s\n", cmd, args_extra);
 		establish_child_signal_handlers();
 		sigprocmask(SIG_SETMASK, &sigm_old, NULL);
-		execl("/bin/sh", "sh", "-c", cmd, NULL);
-		exit(42);
+		execvp(argv[0], argv);
+
+		fd_printf(STDERR_FILENO, "exec: %s\n", strerror(errno));
+		exit(RUNCMD_EXEC_FAIL);
 	}
 }
 
-#undef EXEC
-
 /**********************************************************************/
 
 /* Process command key. Returns non-zero if command results in picocom
@@ -944,7 +947,7 @@ do_command (unsigned char c)
 			fd_printf(STO, "*** cannot read filename ***\r\n");
 			break;
 		}
-		run_cmd(tty_fd, xfr_cmd, fname, NULL);
+		run_cmd(tty_fd, xfr_cmd, fname);
 		free(fname);
 		break;
 	case KEY_BREAK: