diff --git a/Common/DefaultOptions.h b/Common/DefaultOptions.h
index 1bdbf7ac4e4f13f48f375db6be8819a8e5a00c45..e281ebcd544e36a7b366f6f26ca7826f426131dd 100644
--- a/Common/DefaultOptions.h
+++ b/Common/DefaultOptions.h
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ StringXString GeneralOptions_String[] = {
 #elif defined(__APPLE__)
     "open -t %s" ,
 #else
-    "emacs %s &" ,
+    "emacs '%s' &" ,
 #endif
     "System command to launch a text editor" },
   { F|S, "TmpFileName" , opt_general_tmp_filename , ".gmsh-tmp" ,