diff --git a/ci/test/03_test_script.sh b/ci/test/03_test_script.sh
index 05e4d8fd54a..cee09cdebd9 100755
--- a/ci/test/03_test_script.sh
+++ b/ci/test/03_test_script.sh
@@ -130,7 +130,8 @@ if [[ "${RUN_TIDY}" == "true" ]]; then
   BITCOIN_CONFIG_ALL="$BITCOIN_CONFIG_ALL -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON"
 fi
 
-bash -c "cmake -S $BASE_ROOT_DIR -B ${BASE_BUILD_DIR} $BITCOIN_CONFIG_ALL $BITCOIN_CONFIG" || (
+eval "CMAKE_ARGS=($BITCOIN_CONFIG_ALL $BITCOIN_CONFIG)"
+cmake -S "$BASE_ROOT_DIR" -B "$BASE_BUILD_DIR" "${CMAKE_ARGS[@]}" || (
   cd "${BASE_BUILD_DIR}"
   # shellcheck disable=SC2046
   cat $(cmake -P "${BASE_ROOT_DIR}/ci/test/GetCMakeLogFiles.cmake")