diff --git a/batch_job/src/vine_factory.c b/batch_job/src/vine_factory.c
index fbe7d08dc1..3add472434 100644
--- a/batch_job/src/vine_factory.c
+++ b/batch_job/src/vine_factory.c
@@ -219,6 +219,34 @@ int manager_workers_capacity(struct jx *j) {
 	return capacity;
 }
 
+char *string_escape_shell_vine_factory(const char *input) {
+    size_t len = strlen(input);
+
+    // Worst case: every char becomes 2 chars + quotes
+    char *output = malloc(len * 2 + 3);
+    if (!output) return NULL;
+
+    char *dst = output;
+    *dst++ = '"';  // open double quote
+
+    for (const char *src = input; *src; src++) {
+        switch (*src) {
+            case '"':  *dst++ = '\\'; *dst++ = '"'; break;
+            case '\\': *dst++ = '\\'; *dst++ = '\\'; break;
+            case '$':  *dst++ = '\\'; *dst++ = '$'; break;
+            case '`':  *dst++ = '\\'; *dst++ = '`'; break;
+            case '!':  *dst++ = '\\'; *dst++ = '!'; break;
+            case '\'': *dst++ = '\\'; *dst++ = '\''; break;  // escape single quote
+            default:   *dst++ = *src; break;
+        }
+    }
+
+    *dst++ = '"';  // close double quote
+    *dst = '\0';
+
+    return output;
+}
+
 int manager_workers_needed_by_resource(struct jx *j) {
 	int tasks_total_cores  = jx_lookup_integer(j, "tasks_total_cores");
 	int tasks_total_memory = jx_lookup_integer(j, "tasks_total_memory");
@@ -468,7 +496,7 @@ static int submit_worker( struct batch_queue *queue )
 		cmd = string_format(
 		"./%s --parent-death -M %s -t %d -C '%s' %s %s %s %s %s %s %s %s",
 		worker_command,
-		submission_regex,
+		string_escape_shell_vine_factory(submission_regex),
 		worker_timeout,
 		catalog_host,
 		debug_workers ? debug_worker_options : "",
@@ -484,7 +512,7 @@ static int submit_worker( struct batch_queue *queue )
 		cmd = string_format(
 		"./%s --parent-death %s %d -t %d -C '%s' %s %s %s %s %s %s %s",
 		worker_command,
-		manager_host,
+		string_escape_shell_vine_factory(manager_host),
 		manager_port,
 		worker_timeout,
 		catalog_host,
@@ -1686,7 +1714,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	char* cmd;
 	if(worker_command != NULL){
-		cmd = string_format("cp '%s' '%s'",worker_command,scratch_dir);
+		cmd = string_format("cp %s %s",
+			string_escape_shell_vine_factory(worker_command),
+			string_escape_shell_vine_factory(scratch_dir));
 		if(system(cmd)){
 			fprintf(stderr,"vine_factory: Could not Access specified worker binary.\n");
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
@@ -1703,7 +1733,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 		}
 
-		cmd = string_format("cp '%s' '%s'",tmp,scratch_dir);
+		cmd = string_format("cp %s %s",
+			string_escape_shell_vine_factory(tmp),
+			string_escape_shell_vine_factory(scratch_dir));
 		if (system(cmd)) {
 			fprintf(stderr, "vine_factory: could not copy vine_worker to scratch directory.\n");
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);