diff --git a/dotdrop/utils.py b/dotdrop/utils.py
index 1fae268..df073e6 100644
--- a/dotdrop/utils.py
+++ b/dotdrop/utils.py
@@ -71,10 +71,10 @@ def shell(cmd, debug=False):
 
 
 def diff(original, modified, raw=True,
-         diff_cmd='diff -r {0} {1}', debug=False):
+         diff_cmd='diff -r "{0}" "{1}"', debug=False):
     """compare two files"""
     if not diff_cmd:
-        diff_cmd = 'diff -r {0} {1}'
+        diff_cmd = 'diff -r "{0}" "{1}"'
     cmd = diff_cmd.format(original, modified)
     _, out = run(shlex.split(cmd), raw=raw, debug=debug)
     return out