diff --git a/ast/lex.go b/ast/lex.go
index 6f672e5..d7db581 100644
--- a/ast/lex.go
+++ b/ast/lex.go
@@ -164,6 +164,15 @@ func lex(input string) *Token {
         case ';':
             i = matchLineEnd(i)
             start_pos = i + 1
+
+        // this isnt to handle string escaping
+        // its only to make sure that escaped spaces stay in
+        // the same token.
+        case '\\':
+            if i != len(input) - 1 && input[i+1] == ' '{
+                // eat the backslash
+                input = input[:i] + input[i+1:]
+            }
         }
 
         if needs_alloc {
diff --git a/util/shell_complete.go b/util/shell_complete.go
index 86410d8..197b51b 100644
--- a/util/shell_complete.go
+++ b/util/shell_complete.go
@@ -80,7 +80,8 @@ func ShellCompleter(line string, vt ast.VarTable, ft ast.FuncTable) []string {
     completions := []string{}
     for _, i := range compSource {
         if strings.HasPrefix(i, tail) {
-            completions = append(completions, head + i)
+            str := strings.ReplaceAll(i, " ", "\\ ")
+            completions = append(completions, head + str)
         }
     }