diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 266e678..ee21263 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "insta",
  "log",
  "predicates",
+ "shell-escape",
  "stderrlog",
  "wait-timeout",
  "watchexec",
@@ -696,6 +697,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "yaml-rust",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "shell-escape"
+version = "0.1.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "45bb67a18fa91266cc7807181f62f9178a6873bfad7dc788c42e6430db40184f"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "slab"
 version = "0.4.2"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 76c7863..383d6f5 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ clap = "2.33.1"
 log = "0.4.8"
 stderrlog = "0.4.3"
 watchexec = "=1.14.0"
+shell-escape = "0.1.5"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 assert_cmd = "1.0.1"
diff --git a/src/args.rs b/src/args.rs
index deff640..659ed50 100644
--- a/src/args.rs
+++ b/src/args.rs
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ pub fn parse() -> ArgMatches<'static> {
                 .arg(
                     Arg::with_name("cmd:trail")
                         .raw(true)
-                        .help("Full command to run. -x and -s will be ignored!")
+                        .help("Full command to run. -x and -s will be ignored!"),
                 )
                 .after_help(footnote.as_str()),
         );
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 7de092a..84a60f4 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -75,7 +75,12 @@ pub fn set_commands(builder: &mut ArgsBuilder, matches: &ArgMatches) {
 
     if matches.is_present("cmd:trail") {
         debug!("trailing command is present, ignore all other command options");
-        commands = vec![value_t!(matches, "cmd:trail", String).unwrap_or_else(|e| e.exit())];
+        commands = vec![values_t!(matches, "cmd:trail", String)
+            .unwrap_or_else(|e| e.exit())
+            .into_iter()
+            .map(|arg| shell_escape::escape(arg.into()))
+            .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+            .join(" ")];
     }
 
     // Default to `cargo check`
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 97acdb9..d7e9f4c 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 //! Watch files in a Cargo project and compile it when they change
 #![warn(clippy::all)]
 
-use cargo_watch::{args, change_dir, watch::CwHandler, get_options};
+use cargo_watch::{args, change_dir, get_options, watch::CwHandler};
 use stderrlog::Timestamp;
 use watchexec::{error::Result, run::watch};
 
@@ -16,7 +16,11 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
     stderrlog::new()
         .quiet(quiet)
         .verbosity(if debug { 3 } else { 1 })
-        .timestamp(if testing { Timestamp::Off } else { Timestamp::Millisecond })
+        .timestamp(if testing {
+            Timestamp::Off
+        } else {
+            Timestamp::Millisecond
+        })
         .init()
         .unwrap();