diff --git a/quote.c b/quote.c
index a86f9f22a2..aa9a37b1b1 100644
--- a/quote.c
+++ b/quote.c
@@ -360,6 +360,13 @@ char *quote_path(const char *in, const char *prefix, struct strbuf *out, unsigne
 	quote_c_style_counted(rel, strlen(rel), out, NULL, 0);
 	strbuf_release(&sb);
 
+	if ((flags & QUOTE_PATH_QUOTE_SP) &&
+	    (out->buf[0] != '"' && strchr(out->buf, ' '))) {
+		/* Ensure the whole thing is quoted if the path has SP in it */
+		strbuf_insertstr(out, 0, "\"");
+		strbuf_addch(out, '"');
+	}
+
 	return out->buf;
 }
 
diff --git a/quote.h b/quote.h
index 4687b5daf4..1918d1e00e 100644
--- a/quote.h
+++ b/quote.h
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ void write_name_quoted_relative(const char *name, const char *prefix,
 
 /* quote path as relative to the given prefix */
 char *quote_path(const char *in, const char *prefix, struct strbuf *out, unsigned flags);
+#define QUOTE_PATH_QUOTE_SP 01
 
 /* quoting as a string literal for other languages */
 void perl_quote_buf(struct strbuf *sb, const char *src);
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index d6ca7bd52c..adbf6958bd 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -1877,21 +1877,12 @@ static void wt_shortstatus_status(struct string_list_item *it,
 		const char *one;
 
 		if (d->rename_source) {
-			one = quote_path(d->rename_source, s->prefix, &onebuf, 0);
-			if (*one != '"' && strchr(one, ' ') != NULL) {
-				putchar('"');
-				strbuf_addch(&onebuf, '"');
-				one = onebuf.buf;
-			}
+			one = quote_path(d->rename_source, s->prefix, &onebuf,
+					 QUOTE_PATH_QUOTE_SP);
 			printf("%s -> ", one);
 			strbuf_release(&onebuf);
 		}
-		one = quote_path(it->string, s->prefix, &onebuf, 0);
-		if (*one != '"' && strchr(one, ' ') != NULL) {
-			putchar('"');
-			strbuf_addch(&onebuf, '"');
-			one = onebuf.buf;
-		}
+		one = quote_path(it->string, s->prefix, &onebuf, QUOTE_PATH_QUOTE_SP);
 		printf("%s\n", one);
 		strbuf_release(&onebuf);
 	}