diff --git a/alias.c b/alias.c
index e814948ced..54a1a23d2c 100644
--- a/alias.c
+++ b/alias.c
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include "alloc.h"
 #include "config.h"
 #include "gettext.h"
+#include "strbuf.h"
 #include "string-list.h"
 
 struct config_alias_data {
@@ -46,6 +47,23 @@ void list_aliases(struct string_list *list)
 	read_early_config(config_alias_cb, &data);
 }
 
+void quote_cmdline(struct strbuf *buf, const char **argv)
+{
+	for (const char **argp = argv; *argp; argp++) {
+		if (argp != argv)
+			strbuf_addch(buf, ' ');
+		strbuf_addch(buf, '"');
+		for (const char *p = *argp; *p; p++) {
+			const char c = *p;
+
+			if (c == '"' || c =='\\')
+				strbuf_addch(buf, '\\');
+			strbuf_addch(buf, c);
+		}
+		strbuf_addch(buf, '"');
+	}
+}
+
 #define SPLIT_CMDLINE_BAD_ENDING 1
 #define SPLIT_CMDLINE_UNCLOSED_QUOTE 2
 #define SPLIT_CMDLINE_ARGC_OVERFLOW 3
diff --git a/alias.h b/alias.h
index aef4843bb7..43db736484 100644
--- a/alias.h
+++ b/alias.h
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 #ifndef ALIAS_H
 #define ALIAS_H
 
+struct strbuf;
 struct string_list;
 
 char *alias_lookup(const char *alias);
+/* Quote argv so buf can be parsed by split_cmdline() */
+void quote_cmdline(struct strbuf *buf, const char **argv);
 int split_cmdline(char *cmdline, const char ***argv);
 /* Takes a negative value returned by split_cmdline */
 const char *split_cmdline_strerror(int cmdline_errno);
diff --git a/sequencer.c b/sequencer.c
index 587a473d6e..fc6ea75895 100644
--- a/sequencer.c
+++ b/sequencer.c
@@ -2925,7 +2925,7 @@ static void parse_strategy_opts(struct replay_opts *opts, char *raw_opts)
 
 	count = split_cmdline(strategy_opts_string, &argv);
 	if (count < 0)
-		die(_("could not split '%s': %s"), strategy_opts_string,
+		BUG("could not split '%s': %s", strategy_opts_string,
 			    split_cmdline_strerror(count));
 	for (i = 0; i < count; i++) {
 		const char *arg = argv[i];
@@ -3049,12 +3049,13 @@ done_rebase_i:
 
 static void write_strategy_opts(struct replay_opts *opts)
 {
-	int i;
 	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
 
-	for (i = 0; i < opts->xopts.nr; ++i)
-		strbuf_addf(&buf, " --%s", opts->xopts.v[i]);
-
+	/*
+	 * Quote strategy options so that they can be read correctly
+	 * by split_cmdline().
+	 */
+	quote_cmdline(&buf, opts->xopts.v);
 	write_file(rebase_path_strategy_opts(), "%s\n", buf.buf);
 	strbuf_release(&buf);
 }
diff --git a/t/t3418-rebase-continue.sh b/t/t3418-rebase-continue.sh
index 130e2f9b55..42c3954125 100755
--- a/t/t3418-rebase-continue.sh
+++ b/t/t3418-rebase-continue.sh
@@ -62,29 +62,39 @@ test_expect_success 'rebase --continue remembers merge strategy and options' '
 	rm -fr .git/rebase-* &&
 	git reset --hard commit-new-file-F2-on-topic-branch &&
 	test_commit "commit-new-file-F3-on-topic-branch" F3 32 &&
-	test_when_finished "rm -fr test-bin funny.was.run" &&
+	test_when_finished "rm -fr test-bin" &&
 	mkdir test-bin &&
-	cat >test-bin/git-merge-funny <<-EOF &&
-	#!$SHELL_PATH
-	case "\$1" in --opt) ;; *) exit 2 ;; esac
-	shift &&
-	>funny.was.run &&
-	exec git merge-recursive "\$@"
+
+	write_script test-bin/git-merge-funny <<-\EOF &&
+	printf "[%s]\n" $# "$1" "$2" "$3" "$5" >actual
+	shift 3 &&
+	exec git merge-recursive "$@"
 	EOF
-	chmod +x test-bin/git-merge-funny &&
+
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	[7]
+	[--option=arg with space]
+	[--op"tion\]
+	[--new
+	line ]
+	[--]
+	EOF
+
+	rm -f actual &&
 	(
 		PATH=./test-bin:$PATH &&
-		test_must_fail git rebase -s funny -Xopt main topic
+		test_must_fail git rebase -s funny -X"option=arg with space" \
+				-Xop\"tion\\ -X"new${LF}line " main topic
 	) &&
-	test -f funny.was.run &&
-	rm funny.was.run &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+	rm actual &&
 	echo "Resolved" >F2 &&
 	git add F2 &&
 	(
 		PATH=./test-bin:$PATH &&
 		git rebase --continue
 	) &&
-	test -f funny.was.run
+	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'rebase -i --continue handles merge strategy and options' '
diff --git a/t/t3436-rebase-more-options.sh b/t/t3436-rebase-more-options.sh
index 3adf42f47d..94671d3c46 100755
--- a/t/t3436-rebase-more-options.sh
+++ b/t/t3436-rebase-more-options.sh
@@ -40,30 +40,6 @@ test_expect_success 'setup' '
 	EOF
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'bad -X <strategy-option> arguments: unclosed quote' '
-	test_when_finished "test_might_fail git rebase --abort" &&
-	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
-	fatal: could not split '\''--bad'\'': unclosed quote
-	EOF
-	GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR="echo break >" \
-		git rebase -i -X"bad argument\"" side main &&
-	test_expect_code 128 git rebase --continue >out 2>actual &&
-	test_must_be_empty out &&
-	test_cmp expect actual
-'
-
-test_expect_success 'bad -X <strategy-option> arguments: bad escape' '
-	test_when_finished "test_might_fail git rebase --abort" &&
-	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
-	fatal: could not split '\''--bad'\'': cmdline ends with \
-	EOF
-	GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR="echo break >" \
-		git rebase -i -X"bad escape \\" side main &&
-	test_expect_code 128 git rebase --continue >out 2>actual &&
-	test_must_be_empty out &&
-	test_cmp expect actual
-'
-
 test_expect_success '--ignore-whitespace works with apply backend' '
 	test_must_fail git rebase --apply main side &&
 	git rebase --abort &&