diff --git a/doc/riverctl.1.scd b/doc/riverctl.1.scd
index 994c78d..060888e 100644
--- a/doc/riverctl.1.scd
+++ b/doc/riverctl.1.scd
@@ -65,9 +65,9 @@ over the Wayland protocol.
 	output in any direction.
 
 *spawn* _shell_command_
-	Run _shell_command_ using _/bin/sh -c_. Put single quotes around
-	_shell_command_ if you do not want special characters to get
-	interpreted by your shell before the command gets passed to _/bin/sh_.
+	Run _shell_command_ using `/bin/sh -c _shell_command_`. Note that
+	*spawn* only takes a single argument. To spawn a command taking
+	multiple arguments, wrapping the command in quotes is recommended.
 
 *swap* *next*|*previous*
 	Swap the focused view with the next/previous visible non-floating
@@ -336,9 +336,9 @@ However note that not every input device supports every property.
 
 # EXAMPLES
 
-Bind bemenu-run to Super+P in normal mode:
+Bind Super+Enter in normal mode to spawn a *foot*(1) terminal:
 
-	riverctl map normal Mod4 P spawn bemenu-run
+	riverctl map normal Mod4 Enter spawn 'foot --app-id=foobar'
 
 See also the example init script at /etc/river/init.
 
diff --git a/example/init b/example/init
index ae85914..a00a5b1 100755
--- a/example/init
+++ b/example/init
@@ -122,22 +122,22 @@ riverctl map passthrough $mod F11 enter-mode normal
 for mode in normal locked
 do
     # Eject the optical drive
-    riverctl map $mode None XF86Eject spawn eject -T
+    riverctl map $mode None XF86Eject spawn 'eject -T'
 
     # Control pulse audio volume with pamixer (https://github.com/cdemoulins/pamixer)
-    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioRaiseVolume  spawn pamixer -i 5
-    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioLowerVolume  spawn pamixer -d 5
-    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioMute         spawn pamixer --toggle-mute
+    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioRaiseVolume  spawn 'pamixer -i 5'
+    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioLowerVolume  spawn 'pamixer -d 5'
+    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioMute         spawn 'pamixer --toggle-mute'
 
     # Control MPRIS aware media players with playerctl (https://github.com/altdesktop/playerctl)
-    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioMedia spawn playerctl play-pause
-    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioPlay  spawn playerctl play-pause
-    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioPrev  spawn playerctl previous
-    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioNext  spawn playerctl next
+    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioMedia spawn 'playerctl play-pause'
+    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioPlay  spawn 'playerctl play-pause'
+    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioPrev  spawn 'playerctl previous'
+    riverctl map $mode None XF86AudioNext  spawn 'playerctl next'
 
     # Control screen backlight brighness with light (https://github.com/haikarainen/light)
-    riverctl map $mode None XF86MonBrightnessUp   spawn light -A 5
-    riverctl map $mode None XF86MonBrightnessDown spawn light -U 5
+    riverctl map $mode None XF86MonBrightnessUp   spawn 'light -A 5'
+    riverctl map $mode None XF86MonBrightnessDown spawn 'light -U 5'
 done
 
 # Set repeat rate
diff --git a/river/command/spawn.zig b/river/command/spawn.zig
index 26047c4..6ad3936 100644
--- a/river/command/spawn.zig
+++ b/river/command/spawn.zig
@@ -30,11 +30,9 @@ pub fn spawn(
     out: *?[]const u8,
 ) Error!void {
     if (args.len < 2) return Error.NotEnoughArguments;
+    if (args.len > 2) return Error.TooManyArguments;
 
-    const cmd = try std.mem.joinZ(allocator, " ", args[1..]);
-    defer allocator.free(cmd);
-
-    const child_args = [_:null]?[*:0]const u8{ "/bin/sh", "-c", cmd, null };
+    const child_args = [_:null]?[*:0]const u8{ "/bin/sh", "-c", args[1], null };
 
     const pid = std.os.fork() catch {
         out.* = try std.fmt.allocPrint(allocator, "fork/execve failed", .{});