diff --git a/Makefile.pre.in b/Makefile.pre.in
index 4e5644d5c3e..f9415aa8ea8 100644
--- a/Makefile.pre.in
+++ b/Makefile.pre.in
@@ -603,9 +603,9 @@ testuniversal:	all platform
 # Like testall, but with a single pass only
 # run an optional script to include some information about the build environment
 buildbottest:	all platform
-		-@if which pybuildbot.identify >/dev/null 2>&1; then \ 
-			pybuildbot.identify "CC=$(CC)" "CXX=$(CXX)"; \ 
-		fi 
+		-@if which pybuildbot.identify >/dev/null 2>&1; then \
+			pybuildbot.identify "CC='$(CC)'" "CXX='$(CXX)'"; \
+		fi
 		$(TESTPYTHON) $(TESTPROG) $(TESTOPTS) -uall -rw
 
 QUICKTESTOPTS=	$(TESTOPTS) -x test_thread test_signal test_strftime \