diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 9e4cdfd..e821bbe 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1211,6 +1211,12 @@ version = "0.3.16"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2a60c7ce501c71e03a9c9c0d35b861413ae925bd979cc7a4e30d060069aaac8d"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "minimal-lexical"
+version = "0.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "68354c5c6bd36d73ff3feceb05efa59b6acb7626617f4962be322a825e61f79a"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "miniz_oxide"
 version = "0.6.2"
@@ -1246,6 +1252,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "static_assertions",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "nom"
+version = "7.1.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e5507769c4919c998e69e49c839d9dc6e693ede4cc4290d6ad8b41d4f09c548c"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+ "minimal-lexical",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "num-integer"
 version = "0.1.45"
@@ -1710,6 +1726,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "log",
  "merge",
  "nix",
+ "nom",
  "path-dedot",
  "quickcheck",
  "quickcheck_macros",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 01dfbd9..43fda00 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ cachedir = "0.3"
 clap = { version = "3", features = ["derive", "env"] }
 clap_complete = "3.2.4"
 directories = "4"
+nom = "7"
 toml = "0.5"
 merge = "0.1"
 serde_with = "2.2"
diff --git a/src/repository/mod.rs b/src/repository/mod.rs
index 6d95aae..fcfa6d2 100644
--- a/src/repository/mod.rs
+++ b/src/repository/mod.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,15 @@ use anyhow::{bail, Context, Result};
 use clap::Parser;
 use log::*;
 use merge::Merge;
+use nom::{
+    branch::alt,
+    bytes::complete::{is_not, tag},
+    character::complete::multispace1,
+    error::ParseError,
+    multi::separated_list0,
+    sequence::delimited,
+    IResult,
+};
 use rpassword::{prompt_password, read_password_from_bufread};
 use serde::Deserialize;
 
@@ -68,6 +77,20 @@ pub struct RepositoryOptions {
     cache_dir: Option<PathBuf>,
 }
 
+// parse a command
+fn parse_command<'a, E: ParseError<&'a str>>(input: &'a str) -> IResult<&'a str, Vec<&'a str>, E> {
+    separated_list0(
+        // a command is a list
+        multispace1, // separated by one or more spaces
+        alt((
+            // and containing either
+            delimited(tag("\""), is_not("\""), tag("\"")), // strings wrapped in "", or
+            delimited(tag("'"), is_not("'"), tag("'")),    // strigns wrapped in '', or
+            is_not(" \t\r\n"),                             // strings not containing any space
+        )),
+    )(input)
+}
+
 pub struct Repository {
     pub(crate) name: String,
     pub(crate) be: HotColdBackend<ChooseBackend>,
@@ -120,7 +143,8 @@ impl Repository {
                 ))
             }
             (_, _, Some(command)) => {
-                let mut commands: Vec<_> = command.split(' ').collect();
+                let mut commands = parse_command::<()>(command)?.1;
+                debug!("commands: {commands:?}");
                 let output = Command::new(commands[0])
                     .args(&mut commands[1..])
                     .output()