diff --git a/Changes b/Changes
index c8f5a9b..c64f8b2 100644
--- a/Changes
+++ b/Changes
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 This file documents the revision history for the Mod-Gearman-Worker-Go
 
+next:
+          - fix running quoted commands with internal negate
+
 1.5.4    Fri Nov 22 14:09:37 CET 2024
           - improve statistics log output
 
diff --git a/pkg/modgearman/internal_negate.go b/pkg/modgearman/internal_negate.go
index 6cc3c0f..2805ed6 100644
--- a/pkg/modgearman/internal_negate.go
+++ b/pkg/modgearman/internal_negate.go
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/sni/shelltoken"
 )
 
 // NegateDefaultTimeout sets the default timeout if negate is used
@@ -122,9 +124,28 @@ func ParseNegate(com *command) {
 
 		return
 	}
+
 	com.Command = com.Args[mainProgIndex]
 	com.Args = com.Args[mainProgIndex+1:]
 	com.Negate = negate
+
+	if len(com.Args) > 0 {
+		return
+	}
+
+	// recombine remaining program and args
+	remainingArgs := []string{}
+	_, subargs, suberr := shelltoken.SplitLinux(com.Command)
+	if suberr != nil {
+		log.Debugf("failed to parse shell args: %w: %s", suberr, suberr.Error())
+
+		return
+	}
+
+	remainingArgs = append(remainingArgs, subargs...)
+
+	com.Command = remainingArgs[0]
+	com.Args = remainingArgs[1:]
 }
 
 func (n *Negate) Apply(result *answer) {
diff --git a/pkg/modgearman/internal_negate_test.go b/pkg/modgearman/internal_negate_test.go
index 02b2bff..a65a442 100644
--- a/pkg/modgearman/internal_negate_test.go
+++ b/pkg/modgearman/internal_negate_test.go
@@ -6,16 +6,47 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
-func TestNegate(t *testing.T) {
+func TestNegateParse(t *testing.T) {
 	cmdLine := "ENV1=test ./lib/negate -w OK -c UNKNOWN -s /bin/command comArg1 comArg2"
 	cmd := parseCommand(cmdLine, &config{internalNegate: true})
 
 	assert.Equal(t, Exec, cmd.ExecType, "exec type")
 	assert.NotNil(t, cmd.Negate, "parsed negate")
+	assert.Equal(t, map[string]string{"ENV1": "test"}, cmd.Env)
 	assert.Equal(t, "OK", cmd.Negate.WarningStatus, "parsed negate")
 	assert.Equal(t, "UNKNOWN", cmd.Negate.CriticalStatus, "parsed negate")
 }
 
+func TestNegateParseQuoted(t *testing.T) {
+	cmdLine := "./lib/negate \"/bin/bash comArg1 comArg2 ABC=123 -c 'te st'\""
+	cmd := parseCommand(cmdLine, &config{internalNegate: true})
+
+	assert.Equal(t, Exec, cmd.ExecType, "exec type")
+	assert.NotNil(t, cmd.Negate, "parsed negate")
+	assert.Equal(t, "/bin/bash", cmd.Command, "remaining parsed command")
+	assert.Equal(t, []string{"comArg1", "comArg2", "ABC=123", "-c", "te st"}, cmd.Args, "remaining args")
+}
+
+func TestNegateParseQuotedShell(t *testing.T) {
+	cmdLine := "lib/negate -t 1 -s /bin/sh -c 'sleep 3'"
+	cmd := parseCommand(cmdLine, &config{internalNegate: true})
+
+	assert.Equal(t, Exec, cmd.ExecType, "exec type")
+	assert.NotNil(t, cmd.Negate, "parsed negate")
+	assert.Equal(t, "/bin/sh", cmd.Command, "remaining parsed command")
+	assert.Equal(t, []string{"-c", "sleep 3"}, cmd.Args, "remaining args")
+}
+
+func TestNegateParseQuotedShellChars(t *testing.T) {
+	cmdLine := "lib/negate -t 1 -s /bin/sh -c 'sleep 3; echo $SHELL'"
+	cmd := parseCommand(cmdLine, &config{internalNegate: true})
+
+	assert.Equal(t, Exec, cmd.ExecType, "exec type")
+	assert.NotNil(t, cmd.Negate, "parsed negate")
+	assert.Equal(t, "/bin/sh", cmd.Command, "remaining parsed command")
+	assert.Equal(t, []string{"-c", "sleep 3; echo $SHELL"}, cmd.Args, "remaining args")
+}
+
 func TestExecuteCommandWithNegateI(t *testing.T) {
 	cfg := config{}
 	cfg.setDefaultValues()
@@ -31,6 +62,21 @@ func TestExecuteCommandWithNegateI(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "WARNING - failed", result.output, "output replaced")
 }
 
+func TestExecuteCommandWithNegateII(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := config{}
+	cfg.setDefaultValues()
+	cfg.encryption = false
+	result := &answer{}
+
+	executeCommandLine(result, &request{
+		commandLine: "lib/negate -o 1 \"/bin/sh -c 'echo OK'\"",
+		timeout:     10,
+	}, &cfg)
+	assert.Equal(t, "exec", result.execType, "exec type")
+	assert.Equal(t, 1, result.returnCode, "return code")
+	assert.Equal(t, "OK", result.output, "output replaced")
+}
+
 func TestExecuteCommandWithNegateNoOptions(t *testing.T) {
 	cfg := config{}
 	cfg.setDefaultValues()