diff --git a/libpkgconf/argvsplit.c b/libpkgconf/argvsplit.c
index 81a2ec1..a9e8efa 100644
--- a/libpkgconf/argvsplit.c
+++ b/libpkgconf/argvsplit.c
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ pkgconf_argv_split(const char *src, int *argc, char ***argv)
 			}
 			else
 			{
-				if (isspace((unsigned int) *src_iter))
+				if (isspace((unsigned int) *src_iter) || *src_iter == '\\')
 					*dst_iter++ = '\\';
 
 				*dst_iter++ = *src_iter;