diff --git a/git-send-email.perl b/git-send-email.perl
index cccbf4517..e3408d513 100755
--- a/git-send-email.perl
+++ b/git-send-email.perl
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ sub split_addrs {
 	mailrc => sub { my $fh = shift; while (<$fh>) {
 		if (/^alias\s+(\S+)\s+(.*)$/) {
 			# spaces delimit multiple addresses
-			$aliases{$1} = [ split(/\s+/, $2) ];
+			$aliases{$1} = [ quotewords('\s+', 0, $2) ];
 		}}},
 	pine => sub { my $fh = shift; my $f='\t[^\t]*';
 	        for (my $x = ''; defined($x); $x = $_) {