diff --git a/deluge/ui/console/main.py b/deluge/ui/console/main.py
index 55a5c689d..ea7d43adf 100644
--- a/deluge/ui/console/main.py
+++ b/deluge/ui/console/main.py
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import logging
 import optparse
 import re
 import locale
+import shlex
 
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
 
@@ -266,7 +267,7 @@ class BaseCommand(object):
     def split(self, text):
         if deluge.common.windows_check():
             text = text.replace('\\', '\\\\')
-        result = re.split(r"(?<!\\) ", text)
+        result = shlex.split(text)
         for i, s in enumerate(result):
             result[i] = s.replace(r'\ ', ' ')
         result = filter(lambda s: s != '', result)
@@ -475,4 +476,4 @@ Please use commands from the command line, eg:\n
                 component.get("LegacyUI").add_line(s, False)
                 self.events.append(s)
         else:
-            print colors.strip_colors(s.encode(self.encoding))
\ No newline at end of file
+            print colors.strip_colors(s.encode(self.encoding))