diff --git a/tools/update-zuliprc-api-field b/tools/update-zuliprc-api-field
index bc8c28c88e..9a2f1f5db4 100755
--- a/tools/update-zuliprc-api-field
+++ b/tools/update-zuliprc-api-field
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ Usage:
 import argparse
 import configparser
 import os
+import shlex
 import subprocess
 import sys
 
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ for zuliprc_path in zuliprc_paths_list:
 
         if is_vagrant_env_host(ZULIP_PATH):
             arguments = ['vagrant', 'ssh', '--command',
-                         './manage.py print_initial_password ' + email]
+                         './manage.py print_initial_password ' + shlex.quote(email)]
         else:
             # Support users who don't have vagrant based setup
             arguments = ['./manage.py', 'print_initial_password', email]