diff --git a/quote.c b/quote.c
index e3a4d4aef3..dc5c0a7715 100644
--- a/quote.c
+++ b/quote.c
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ static int quote_c_style_counted(const char *name, int namelen,
 		if (!ch)
 			break;
 		if ((ch < ' ') || (ch == '"') || (ch == '\\') ||
-		    (ch == 0177)) {
+		    (ch >= 0177)) {
 			needquote = 1;
 			switch (ch) {
 			case '\a': EMITQ(); ch = 'a'; break;