diff --git a/.travis-data/code-setup-input.txt b/.travis-data/code-setup-input.txt
index 1b0bcf1b72..2c5770d487 100644
--- a/.travis-data/code-setup-input.txt
+++ b/.travis-data/code-setup-input.txt
@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@ simple script that doubles a number and sleeps for a given number of seconds
 False
 simpleplugins.templatereplacer
 torquessh
-/usr/local/bin/doubler.sh
+/usr/local/bin/d"o'ub ler.sh
 
 
diff --git a/.travis-data/torquessh-doubler/Dockerfile b/.travis-data/torquessh-doubler/Dockerfile
index cd1c67b5f9..f7977fd928 100644
--- a/.travis-data/torquessh-doubler/Dockerfile
+++ b/.travis-data/torquessh-doubler/Dockerfile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ MAINTAINER AiiDA Team <info@aiida.net>
 # Use baseimage-docker's init system.
 CMD ["/sbin/my_init"]
 
-# Install required packages
 COPY doubler.sh /usr/local/bin/
 
-
+# Use messed-up filename to test quoting robustness
+RUN mv /usr/local/bin/doubler.sh /usr/local/bin/d\"o\'ub\ ler.sh
diff --git a/.travis-data/torquessh-doubler/README.md b/.travis-data/torquessh-doubler/README.md
index 5ecbd09b4e..257482de86 100644
--- a/.travis-data/torquessh-doubler/README.md
+++ b/.travis-data/torquessh-doubler/README.md
@@ -3,3 +3,8 @@
 This folder contains an example of an extension of the torquessh-base image,
 where we add a very basic script to double a number.
 This is meant to be a very lightweight 'code' to test daemon functionality.
+
+# Notes
+
+Inside the docker image, we use a filename including single quotes, double
+quotes and spaces in order to test the robustness of AiiDA's escaping routines.
diff --git a/aiida/transport/plugins/local.py b/aiida/transport/plugins/local.py
index def5902968..7f5b5b0af4 100644
--- a/aiida/transport/plugins/local.py
+++ b/aiida/transport/plugins/local.py
@@ -704,21 +704,29 @@ def isfile(self, path):
 
     def _exec_command_internal(self, command):
         """
-        Executes the specified command, first changing directory to the
-        current working directory as returned by self.getcwd().
-        Does not wait for the calculation to finish.
+        Executes the specified command in bash login shell.
+        
+        Before the command is executed, changes directory to the current
+        working directory as returned by self.getcwd().
 
-        For a higher-level exec_command that automatically waits for the
-        job to finish, use exec_command_wait.
+        For executing commands and waiting for them to finish, use
+        exec_command_wait.
         Otherwise, to end the process, use the proc.wait() method.
 
-        :param command: the command to execute
+        :param  command: the command to execute. The command is assumed to be
+            already escaped using :py:func:`aiida.common.utils.escape_for_bash`.
         
         :return: a tuple with (stdin, stdout, stderr, proc),
             where stdin, stdout and stderr behave as file-like objects,
             proc is the process object as returned by the
             subprocess.Popen() class.
         """
+        from aiida.common.utils import escape_for_bash
+
+        # Note: The outer shell will eat one level of escaping, while
+        # 'bash -l -c ...' will eat another. Thus, we need to escape again.
+        command = 'bash -l -c ' + escape_for_bash(command)
+
         proc = subprocess.Popen(command, shell=True, stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
                                 stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
                                 cwd=self.getcwd())
diff --git a/aiida/transport/plugins/ssh.py b/aiida/transport/plugins/ssh.py
index 858632eff1..8a6c59cc23 100644
--- a/aiida/transport/plugins/ssh.py
+++ b/aiida/transport/plugins/ssh.py
@@ -1290,15 +1290,16 @@ def isfile(self,path):
 
     def _exec_command_internal(self,command,combine_stderr=False,bufsize=-1):
         """
-        Executes the specified command, first changing directory to the
-        current working directory are returned by
-        self.getcwd().
-        Does not wait for the calculation to finish.
+        Executes the specified command in bash login shell.
+        
+        Before the command is executed, changes directory to the current
+        working directory as returned by self.getcwd().
 
-        For a higher-level _exec_command_internal that automatically waits for the
-        job to finish, use exec_command_wait.
+        For executing commands and waiting for them to finish, use
+        exec_command_wait.
 
-        :param  command: the command to execute
+        :param  command: the command to execute. The command is assumed to be
+            already escaped using :py:func:`aiida.common.utils.escape_for_bash`.
         :param combine_stderr: (default False) if True, combine stdout and
                 stderr on the same buffer (i.e., stdout).
                 Note: If combine_stderr is True, stderr will always be empty.
@@ -1324,7 +1325,9 @@ def _exec_command_internal(self,command,combine_stderr=False,bufsize=-1):
         self.logger.debug("Command to be executed: {}".format(
                 command_to_execute))
 
-        channel.exec_command(command_to_execute)
+        # Note: The default shell will eat one level of escaping, while 
+        # 'bash -l -c ...' will eat another. Thus, we need to escape again.
+        channel.exec_command('bash -l -c ' + escape_for_bash(command_to_execute))
         
         stdin = channel.makefile('wb',bufsize) 
         stdout = channel.makefile('rb',bufsize)