diff --git a/lib/god/process.rb b/lib/god/process.rb
index 0f90ce47..5085c6c5 100644
--- a/lib/god/process.rb
+++ b/lib/god/process.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+require 'shellwords'
+
 module God
   class Process
     WRITES_PID = [:start, :restart]
@@ -321,7 +323,10 @@ def spawn(command)
           end
         end
 
-        exec command unless command.empty?
+        unless command.empty?
+          args = Shellwords.split command
+          exec *args
+        end
       end
     end