diff --git a/cmd/aws-env/main.go b/cmd/aws-env/main.go
index cc7ec51..16ff545 100644
--- a/cmd/aws-env/main.go
+++ b/cmd/aws-env/main.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"os/signal"
+	"strings"
 	"syscall"
 
 	"github.com/sendgrid/aws-env/awsenv"
@@ -198,7 +199,7 @@ func dump(r *awsenv.Replacer) error {
 
 	for name, newVal := range vars {
 		log.WithField("envvar", name).Info("replacing")
-		fmt.Printf("export %s=$'%s'\n", name, newVal)
+		fmt.Printf("export %s=$'%s'\n", name, ansiCEscape(newVal))
 	}
 
 	return nil
@@ -256,6 +257,14 @@ func invoke(r *awsenv.Replacer, prog string, args []string) error {
 	}
 }
 
+// ansiCEscape escapes a string for safe use inside $'...' (ANSI-C quoting).
+// Backslashes must be escaped first to avoid double-escaping.
+func ansiCEscape(s string) string {
+	s = strings.ReplaceAll(s, `\`, `\\`)
+	s = strings.ReplaceAll(s, `'`, `\'`)
+	return s
+}
+
 func main() {
 	if err := app.Run(os.Args); err != nil {
 		log.WithError(err).Fatalf("%s failed to start", app.Name)
diff --git a/cmd/aws-env/main_test.go b/cmd/aws-env/main_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cbfedf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/aws-env/main_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestAnsiCEscape(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name  string
+		input string
+		want  string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:  "plain value",
+			input: "hello",
+			want:  "hello",
+		},
+		{
+			name:  "single quote injection",
+			input: "foo'; rm -rf /; echo '",
+			want:  `foo\'; rm -rf /; echo \'`,
+		},
+		{
+			name:  "backslash",
+			input: `foo\bar`,
+			want:  `foo\\bar`,
+		},
+		{
+			name:  "backslash before single quote",
+			input: `foo\'bar`,
+			want:  `foo\\\'bar`,
+		},
+		{
+			name:  "empty string",
+			input: "",
+			want:  "",
+		},
+		{
+			name:  "value with newline",
+			input: "line1\nline2",
+			want:  "line1\nline2",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := ansiCEscape(tt.input)
+			if got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("ansiCEscape(%q) = %q, want %q", tt.input, got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}