diff --git a/unison-cli/src/Unison/Codebase/TranscriptParser.hs b/unison-cli/src/Unison/Codebase/TranscriptParser.hs
index b281d67e5e..9edb5f39c8 100644
--- a/unison-cli/src/Unison/Codebase/TranscriptParser.hs
+++ b/unison-cli/src/Unison/Codebase/TranscriptParser.hs
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import Crypto.Random qualified as Random
 import Data.Aeson qualified as Aeson
 import Data.Aeson.Encode.Pretty qualified as Aeson
 import Data.ByteString.Lazy.Char8 qualified as BL
+import Data.Char (isSpace)
 import Data.Char qualified as Char
 import Data.Configurator qualified as Configurator
 import Data.Configurator.Types (Config)
@@ -346,14 +347,14 @@ run dir stanzas codebase runtime sbRuntime config ucmVersion baseURL = UnliftIO.
                     atomically $ Q.undequeue cmdQueue (Just p)
                     pure (Right switchCommand)
                   Nothing -> do
-                    case words . Text.unpack $ lineTxt of
-                      [] -> awaitInput
-                      args -> do
+                    case break isSpace $ dropWhile isSpace . Text.unpack $ lineTxt of
+                      ("", _) -> awaitInput
+                      (command, argsString) -> do
                         liftIO (output ("\n" <> show p <> "\n"))
                         rootVar <- use #root
                         numberedArgs <- use #numberedArgs
                         let getRoot = fmap Branch.head . atomically $ readTMVar rootVar
-                        liftIO (parseInput getRoot curPath numberedArgs patternMap args) >>= \case
+                        liftIO (parseInput getRoot curPath numberedArgs patternMap command argsString) >>= \case
                           -- invalid command is treated as a failure
                           Left msg -> liftIO (dieWithMsg $ Pretty.toPlain terminalWidth msg)
                           Right input -> pure $ Right input
diff --git a/unison-cli/src/Unison/CommandLine.hs b/unison-cli/src/Unison/CommandLine.hs
index 61e39f0351..d1750ec518 100644
--- a/unison-cli/src/Unison/CommandLine.hs
+++ b/unison-cli/src/Unison/CommandLine.hs
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ where
 import Control.Concurrent (forkIO, killThread)
 import Control.Lens (ifor)
 import Control.Monad.Trans.Except
+import Data.Char (isSpace)
 import Data.Configurator (autoConfig, autoReload)
 import Data.Configurator qualified as Config
 import Data.Configurator.Types (Config, Worth (..))
@@ -114,37 +115,54 @@ parseInput ::
   [String] ->
   -- | Input Pattern Map
   Map String InputPattern ->
-  -- | command:arguments
-  [String] ->
+  -- | command
+  String ->
+  -- | arguments string
+  String ->
   IO (Either (P.Pretty CT.ColorText) Input)
-parseInput getRoot currentPath numberedArgs patterns segments = runExceptT do
-  case segments of
-    [] -> throwE ""
-    command : args -> case Map.lookup command patterns of
-      Just pat@(InputPattern {parse}) -> do
-        let expandedNumbers :: [String]
-            expandedNumbers = foldMap (expandNumber numberedArgs) args
-        expandedGlobs <- ifor expandedNumbers $ \i arg -> do
-          if Globbing.containsGlob arg
-            then do
-              rootBranch <- liftIO getRoot
-              let targets = case InputPattern.argType pat i of
-                    Just argT -> InputPattern.globTargets argT
-                    Nothing -> mempty
-              case Globbing.expandGlobs targets rootBranch currentPath arg of
-                -- No globs encountered
-                Nothing -> pure [arg]
-                Just [] -> throwE $ "No matches for: " <> fromString arg
-                Just matches -> pure matches
-            else pure [arg]
-        except $ parse (concat expandedGlobs)
-      Nothing ->
-        throwE
-          . warn
-          . P.wrap
-          $ "I don't know how to "
-            <> P.group (fromString command <> ".")
-            <> "Type `help` or `?` to get help."
+parseInput getRoot currentPath numberedArgs patterns command args = runExceptT do
+  case Map.lookup command patterns of
+    Just pat@(InputPattern {parse}) -> do
+      let expandedNumbers :: [String]
+          expandedNumbers = foldMap (expandNumber numberedArgs) $ words' args
+      expandedGlobs <- ifor expandedNumbers $ \i arg -> do
+        if Globbing.containsGlob arg
+          then do
+            rootBranch <- liftIO getRoot
+            let targets = case InputPattern.argType pat i of
+                  Just argT -> InputPattern.globTargets argT
+                  Nothing -> mempty
+            case Globbing.expandGlobs targets rootBranch currentPath arg of
+              -- No globs encountered
+              Nothing -> pure [arg]
+              Just [] -> throwE $ "No matches for: " <> fromString arg
+              Just matches -> pure matches
+          else pure [arg]
+      except $ parse (concat expandedGlobs)
+    Nothing ->
+      throwE
+        . warn
+        . P.wrap
+        $ "I don't know how to "
+          <> P.group (fromString command <> ".")
+          <> "Type `help` or `?` to get help."
+
+-- | A version of 'words' that treats sequences enclosed in double quotes as
+-- single words and that does not break on backslash-escaped spaces.
+-- E.g., 'words\' "\"lorem ipsum\" dolor"' and 'words\' "lorem\\ ipsum dolor"'
+-- yield '["lorem ipsum", "dolor"]'.
+-- https://github.com/ghc/ghc/blob/73d07c6e1986bd2b3516d4f009cc1e30ba804f06/ghc/GHCi/UI.hs#L2499
+words' :: String -> [String]
+words' s = case dropWhile isSpace s of
+  "" -> []
+  s'@('\"' : _) | [(w, s'')] <- reads s' -> w : words' s''
+  s' -> go id s'
+  where
+    go acc [] = [acc []]
+    go acc ('\\' : c : cs) | isSpace c = go (acc . (c :)) cs
+    go acc (c : cs)
+      | isSpace c = acc [] : words' cs
+      | otherwise = go (acc . (c :)) cs
 
 -- Expand a numeric argument like `1` or a range like `3-9`
 expandNumber :: [String] -> String -> [String]
diff --git a/unison-cli/src/Unison/CommandLine/Main.hs b/unison-cli/src/Unison/CommandLine/Main.hs
index 2adf8f38b9..d635d0d377 100644
--- a/unison-cli/src/Unison/CommandLine/Main.hs
+++ b/unison-cli/src/Unison/CommandLine/Main.hs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import Control.Exception (catch, finally, mask)
 import Control.Lens (preview, (?~), (^.))
 import Control.Monad.Catch (MonadMask)
 import Crypto.Random qualified as Random
+import Data.Char (isSpace)
 import Data.Configurator.Types (Config)
 import Data.IORef
 import Data.Text qualified as Text
@@ -100,10 +101,10 @@ getUserInput codebase authHTTPClient getRoot currentPath numberedArgs =
       line <- Line.getInputLine (P.toANSI 80 (promptString <> fromString prompt))
       case line of
         Nothing -> pure QuitI
-        Just l -> case words l of
-          [] -> go
-          ws -> do
-            liftIO (parseInput (Branch.head <$> getRoot) currentPath numberedArgs IP.patternMap ws) >>= \case
+        Just l -> case break isSpace $ dropWhile isSpace l of
+          ("", _) -> go
+          (command, argsString) -> do
+            liftIO (parseInput (Branch.head <$> getRoot) currentPath numberedArgs IP.patternMap command argsString) >>= \case
               Left msg -> do
                 liftIO $ putPrettyLn msg
                 go
diff --git a/unison-cli/unison/ArgParse.hs b/unison-cli/unison/ArgParse.hs
index e5ed427778..2a2aa4c211 100644
--- a/unison-cli/unison/ArgParse.hs
+++ b/unison-cli/unison/ArgParse.hs
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ runFileCommand =
   where
     help =
       "Execute a definition from a file, passing on the provided arguments. "
-        <> " To pass flags to your program, use `run.file <file> -- --my-flag`"
+        <> " To pass flags to your program, use `run.file <file> <symbol> -- --my-flag`"
 
 runPipeCommand :: Mod CommandFields Command
 runPipeCommand =