diff --git a/auto/expect b/auto/expect
index ee12a518a..a4a5419cc 100644
--- a/auto/expect
+++ b/auto/expect
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ if [ $njs_found = yes -a $NJS_HAVE_READLINE = YES ]; then
     cat << END >> $NJS_MAKEFILE
 
 shell_test_njs:	njs test/shell_test.exp
-	PATH=$NJS_BUILD_DIR:\$(PATH) LANG=C.UTF-8 TERM=screen \
+	PATH="$NJS_BUILD_DIR:\$(PATH)" LANG=C.UTF-8 TERM=screen \
     expect -f test/shell_test.exp
-	PATH=$NJS_BUILD_DIR:\$(PATH) LANG=C.UTF-8 TERM=screen \
+	PATH="$NJS_BUILD_DIR:\$(PATH)" LANG=C.UTF-8 TERM=screen \
     expect -f test/shell_test_njs.exp
 END
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ if [ $NJS_HAVE_QUICKJS = YES ]; then
 shell_test:	shell_test_njs shell_test_quickjs
 
 shell_test_quickjs:	njs test/shell_test.exp
-	PATH=$NJS_BUILD_DIR:\$(PATH) LANG=C.UTF-8 TERM=screen NJS_ENGINE=QuickJS \
+	PATH="$NJS_BUILD_DIR:\$(PATH)" LANG=C.UTF-8 TERM=screen NJS_ENGINE=QuickJS \
     expect -f test/shell_test.exp
 END