diff --git a/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile.go b/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile.go
index da56fb6f2..c08463808 100644
--- a/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile.go
+++ b/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile.go
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func (b *Buildfile) WriteComment(comment string) {
 // are not echoed back to the console, and are
 // kept private by default.
 func (b *Buildfile) WriteEnv(key, value string) {
-	b.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("export %s=%s\n", key, value))
+	b.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("export %s=%q\n", key, value))
 }
 
 // WriteHost adds an entry to the /etc/hosts file.
diff --git a/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile_test.go b/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile_test.go
index c4a48c993..f9e0e942f 100644
--- a/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile_test.go
+++ b/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile_test.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ func TestWrite(t *testing.T) {
 
 	f = &Buildfile{}
 	f.WriteEnv("FOO", "BAR")
-	got, want = f.String(), "export FOO=BAR\n"
+	got, want = f.String(), "export FOO=\"BAR\"\n"
 	if got != want {
 		t.Errorf("Exepected WriteEnv returned %s, got %s", want, got)
 	}
diff --git a/shared/build/script/script.go b/shared/build/script/script.go
index 372e1dc20..62fa8e7eb 100644
--- a/shared/build/script/script.go
+++ b/shared/build/script/script.go
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func (b *Build) Write(f *buildfile.Buildfile, r *repo.Repo) {
 func (b *Build) WriteBuild(f *buildfile.Buildfile) {
 	// append environment variables
 	for _, env := range b.Env {
-		parts := strings.Split(env, "=")
+		parts := strings.SplitN(env, "=", 2)
 		if len(parts) != 2 {
 			continue
 		}