diff --git a/tools/testing/kunit/kunit_kernel.py b/tools/testing/kunit/kunit_kernel.py
index 483f78e15ce9..1b9c4922a675 100644
--- a/tools/testing/kunit/kunit_kernel.py
+++ b/tools/testing/kunit/kunit_kernel.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import importlib.util
 import logging
 import subprocess
 import os
+import shlex
 import shutil
 import signal
 import threading
@@ -118,16 +119,17 @@ class LinuxSourceTreeOperationsQemu(LinuxSourceTreeOperations):
 				'-nodefaults',
 				'-m', '1024',
 				'-kernel', kernel_path,
-				'-append', '\'' + ' '.join(params + [self._kernel_command_line]) + '\'',
+				'-append', ' '.join(params + [self._kernel_command_line]),
 				'-no-reboot',
 				'-nographic',
-				'-serial stdio'] + self._extra_qemu_params
-		print('Running tests with:\n$', ' '.join(qemu_command))
-		return subprocess.Popen(' '.join(qemu_command),
-					   stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
-					   stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
-					   stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
-					   text=True, shell=True, errors='backslashreplace')
+				'-serial', 'stdio'] + self._extra_qemu_params
+		# Note: shlex.join() does what we want, but requires python 3.8+.
+		print('Running tests with:\n$', ' '.join(shlex.quote(arg) for arg in qemu_command))
+		return subprocess.Popen(qemu_command,
+					stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
+					stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+					stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
+					text=True, errors='backslashreplace')
 
 class LinuxSourceTreeOperationsUml(LinuxSourceTreeOperations):
 	"""An abstraction over command line operations performed on a source tree."""
diff --git a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/alpha.py b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/alpha.py
index 5d0c0cff03bd..3ac846e03a6b 100644
--- a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/alpha.py
+++ b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/alpha.py
@@ -7,4 +7,4 @@ CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_CONSOLE=y''',
 			   qemu_arch='alpha',
 			   kernel_path='arch/alpha/boot/vmlinux',
 			   kernel_command_line='console=ttyS0',
-			   extra_qemu_params=[''])
+			   extra_qemu_params=[])
diff --git a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/arm.py b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/arm.py
index b9c2a35e0296..db2160200566 100644
--- a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/arm.py
+++ b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/arm.py
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@ CONFIG_SERIAL_AMBA_PL011_CONSOLE=y''',
 			   qemu_arch='arm',
 			   kernel_path='arch/arm/boot/zImage',
 			   kernel_command_line='console=ttyAMA0',
-			   extra_qemu_params=['-machine virt'])
+			   extra_qemu_params=['-machine', 'virt'])
diff --git a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/arm64.py b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/arm64.py
index 517c04459f47..67d04064f785 100644
--- a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/arm64.py
+++ b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/arm64.py
@@ -9,4 +9,4 @@ CONFIG_SERIAL_AMBA_PL011_CONSOLE=y''',
 			   qemu_arch='aarch64',
 			   kernel_path='arch/arm64/boot/Image.gz',
 			   kernel_command_line='console=ttyAMA0',
-			   extra_qemu_params=['-machine virt', '-cpu cortex-a57'])
+			   extra_qemu_params=['-machine', 'virt', '-cpu', 'cortex-a57'])
diff --git a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/i386.py b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/i386.py
index aed3ffd3937d..52b80be40e4b 100644
--- a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/i386.py
+++ b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/i386.py
@@ -7,4 +7,4 @@ CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_CONSOLE=y''',
 			   qemu_arch='x86_64',
 			   kernel_path='arch/x86/boot/bzImage',
 			   kernel_command_line='console=ttyS0',
-			   extra_qemu_params=[''])
+			   extra_qemu_params=[])
diff --git a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/powerpc.py b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/powerpc.py
index 35e9de24f0db..6c901149726b 100644
--- a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/powerpc.py
+++ b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/powerpc.py
@@ -9,4 +9,4 @@ CONFIG_HVC_CONSOLE=y''',
 			   qemu_arch='ppc64',
 			   kernel_path='vmlinux',
 			   kernel_command_line='console=ttyS0',
-			   extra_qemu_params=['-M pseries', '-cpu power8'])
+			   extra_qemu_params=['-M', ' pseries', '-cpu', 'power8'])
diff --git a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/riscv.py b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/riscv.py
index 9e528087cd7c..b882fde39435 100644
--- a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/riscv.py
+++ b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/riscv.py
@@ -26,6 +26,6 @@ CONFIG_SERIAL_EARLYCON_RISCV_SBI=y''',
 			   kernel_path='arch/riscv/boot/Image',
 			   kernel_command_line='console=ttyS0',
 			   extra_qemu_params=[
-					   '-machine virt',
-					   '-cpu rv64',
-					   '-bios opensbi-riscv64-generic-fw_dynamic.bin'])
+					   '-machine', 'virt',
+					   '-cpu', 'rv64',
+					   '-bios', 'opensbi-riscv64-generic-fw_dynamic.bin'])
diff --git a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/s390.py b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/s390.py
index e310bd521113..98fa4fb60c0a 100644
--- a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/s390.py
+++ b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/s390.py
@@ -10,5 +10,5 @@ CONFIG_MODULES=y''',
 			   kernel_path='arch/s390/boot/bzImage',
 			   kernel_command_line='console=ttyS0',
 			   extra_qemu_params=[
-					   '-machine s390-ccw-virtio',
-					   '-cpu qemu',])
+					   '-machine', 's390-ccw-virtio',
+					   '-cpu', 'qemu',])
diff --git a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/sparc.py b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/sparc.py
index 27f474e7ad6e..e975c4331a7c 100644
--- a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/sparc.py
+++ b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/sparc.py
@@ -7,4 +7,4 @@ CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_CONSOLE=y''',
 			   qemu_arch='sparc',
 			   kernel_path='arch/sparc/boot/zImage',
 			   kernel_command_line='console=ttyS0 mem=256M',
-			   extra_qemu_params=['-m 256'])
+			   extra_qemu_params=['-m', '256'])
diff --git a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/x86_64.py b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/x86_64.py
index 77ab1aeee8a3..dc7949076863 100644
--- a/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/x86_64.py
+++ b/tools/testing/kunit/qemu_configs/x86_64.py
@@ -7,4 +7,4 @@ CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_CONSOLE=y''',
 			   qemu_arch='x86_64',
 			   kernel_path='arch/x86/boot/bzImage',
 			   kernel_command_line='console=ttyS0',
-			   extra_qemu_params=[''])
+			   extra_qemu_params=[])
