diff --git a/crates/cli/tests/cli_run.rs b/crates/cli/tests/cli_run.rs
index 3cd3360a1a..511b33d509 100644
--- a/crates/cli/tests/cli_run.rs
+++ b/crates/cli/tests/cli_run.rs
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ mod cli_run {
 
         let is_reporting_runtime = stderr.starts_with("runtime: ") && stderr.ends_with("ms\n");
         if !(stderr.is_empty() || is_reporting_runtime) {
-            panic!("\n___________\nThe roc command:\n\n  {}\n\nhad unexpected stderr:\n\n  {}\n___________\n", compile_out.cmd_str, stderr);
+            panic!("\n___________\nThe roc command:\n\n  {:?}\n\nhad unexpected stderr:\n\n  {}\n___________\n", compile_out.cmd_str, stderr);
         }
 
         assert!(
diff --git a/crates/cli_utils/src/helpers.rs b/crates/cli_utils/src/helpers.rs
index b0a2b34326..d866228838 100644
--- a/crates/cli_utils/src/helpers.rs
+++ b/crates/cli_utils/src/helpers.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ use roc_utils::root_dir;
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use serde_xml_rs::from_str;
 use std::env;
-use std::ffi::OsStr;
+use std::ffi::{OsStr, OsString};
 use std::io::Read;
 use std::io::Write;
 use std::path::Path;
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ use tempfile::NamedTempFile;
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct Out {
-    pub cmd_str: String, // command with all its arguments, for easy debugging
+    pub cmd_str: OsString, // command with all its arguments, for easy debugging
     pub stdout: String,
     pub stderr: String,
     pub status: ExitStatus,
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ where
         roc_cmd.env(k, v);
     }
 
-    let roc_cmd_str = format!("{:?}", roc_cmd);
+    let roc_cmd_str = pretty_command_string(&roc_cmd);
 
     let mut roc_cmd_child = roc_cmd
         .stdin(Stdio::piped())
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ where
         .stderr(Stdio::piped())
         .spawn()
         .unwrap_or_else(|err| {
-            panic!("Failed to execute command\n\n  {roc_cmd_str}\n\nwith error:\n\n  {err}",)
+            panic!("Failed to execute command\n\n  {roc_cmd_str:?}\n\nwith error:\n\n  {err}",)
         });
 
     {
@@ -177,14 +177,14 @@ where
                 .write_all(stdin_str.as_bytes())
                 .unwrap_or_else(|err| {
                     panic!(
-                        "Failed to write to stdin for command\n\n  {roc_cmd_str}\n\nwith error:\n\n  {err}",
+                        "Failed to write to stdin for command\n\n  {roc_cmd_str:?}\n\nwith error:\n\n  {err}",
                     )
                 });
         }
     }
 
     let roc_cmd_output = roc_cmd_child.wait_with_output().unwrap_or_else(|err| {
-        panic!("Failed to get output for command\n\n  {roc_cmd_str}\n\nwith error:\n\n  {err}",)
+        panic!("Failed to get output for command\n\n  {roc_cmd_str:?}\n\nwith error:\n\n  {err}",)
     });
 
     Out {
@@ -207,12 +207,12 @@ pub fn run_cmd<'a, I: IntoIterator<Item = &'a str>, E: IntoIterator<Item = (&'a
         cmd.arg(arg);
     }
 
-    let cmd_str = format!("{:?}", cmd);
-
     for (env, val) in env.into_iter() {
         cmd.env(env, val);
     }
 
+    let cmd_str = pretty_command_string(&cmd);
+
     let mut child = cmd
         .stdin(Stdio::piped())
         .stdout(Stdio::piped())
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ pub fn run_with_valgrind<'a, I: IntoIterator<Item = &'a str>>(
         cmd.arg(arg);
     }
 
-    let cmd_str = format!("{:?}", cmd);
+    let cmd_str = pretty_command_string(&cmd);
 
     cmd.stdin(Stdio::piped());
     cmd.stdout(Stdio::piped());
@@ -447,3 +447,15 @@ pub fn known_bad_file(file_name: &str) -> PathBuf {
 
     path
 }
+
+fn pretty_command_string(command: &Command) -> OsString {
+    let mut command_string = std::ffi::OsString::new();
+    command_string.push(command.get_program());
+
+    for arg in command.get_args() {
+        command_string.push(" ");
+        command_string.push(arg);
+    }
+
+    command_string
+}