diff --git a/plugin/vim-ripgrep.vim b/plugin/vim-ripgrep.vim
index 9bc029d..deb255f 100644
--- a/plugin/vim-ripgrep.vim
+++ b/plugin/vim-ripgrep.vim
@@ -61,7 +61,9 @@ fun! s:RgSearch(txt)
   if &smartcase == 1
     let l:rgopts = l:rgopts . '-S '
   endif
-  silent! exe 'grep! ' . l:rgopts . a:txt
+  " quote a:txt before sending it to the shell
+  let l:txt = substitute(a:txt, "'", "\\'", "g")
+  silent! exe 'grep! ' . l:rgopts . "'" . a:txt . "'"
   if len(getqflist())
     exe g:rg_window_location 'copen'
     redraw!