diff -ur dialog-1.3-20160209.orig/argv.c dialog-1.3-20160209/argv.c
--- dialog-1.3-20160209.orig/argv.c	2015-05-13 00:34:39.000000000 +0000
+++ dialog-1.3-20160209/argv.c	2016-02-11 10:41:08.705828223 +0000
@@ -55,12 +55,18 @@
 		    ++count;
 		    inparm = TRUE;
 		}
-	    } else if (!quoted && isspace(UCH(blob[n]))) {
-		if (inparm) {
+	    } else if (blob[n] == '\\') {
+		if (quoted && !isspace(UCH(blob[n + 1]))) {
 		    if (pass) {
-			*param++ = '\0';
+			*param++ = blob[n];
+			*param++ = blob[n + 1];
 		    }
-		    inparm = FALSE;
+		}
+		++n;
+	    } else if (!quoted && isspace(UCH(blob[n]))) {
+		inparm = FALSE;
+		if (pass) {
+		    *param++ = '\0';
 		}
 	    } else {
 		if (!inparm) {
@@ -69,10 +75,6 @@
 		    ++count;
 		    inparm = TRUE;
 		}
-		if (blob[n] == '\\') {
-		    if (++n == length)
-			break;	/* The string is terminated by a backslash */
-		}
 		if (pass) {
 		    *param++ = blob[n];
 		}
diff -ur dialog-1.3-20160209.orig/dialog.c dialog-1.3-20160209/dialog.c
--- dialog-1.3-20160209.orig/dialog.c	2016-02-09 00:05:39.000000000 +0000
+++ dialog-1.3-20160209/dialog.c	2016-02-11 10:41:08.707828223 +0000
@@ -421,58 +421,49 @@
 		    blob[length] = '\0';
 
 		    list = dlg_string_to_argv(blob);
-		    added = dlg_count_argv(list);
-		    if (added > 2) {
-			/* *argcp arguments before the expansion of --file
-			   - 2 for the removal of '--file <filepath>'
-			   + added for the arguments contained in <filepath>
-			   + 1 for the terminating NULL pointer */
-			size_t need = (size_t) (*argcp + added - 1);
-			if (doalloc) {
-			    *argvp = dlg_realloc(char *, need, *argvp);
-			    assert_ptr(*argvp, "unescape_argv");
-			} else {
-			    char **newp = dlg_malloc(char *, need);
-			    assert_ptr(newp, "unescape_argv");
-			    for (n = 0; n < *argcp; ++n) {
-				newp[n] = (*argvp)[n];
+		    if ((added = dlg_count_argv(list)) != 0) {
+			if (added > 2) {
+			    size_t need = (size_t) (*argcp + added + 1);
+			    if (doalloc) {
+				*argvp = dlg_realloc(char *, need, *argvp);
+				assert_ptr(*argvp, "unescape_argv");
+			    } else {
+				char **newp = dlg_malloc(char *, need);
+				assert_ptr(newp, "unescape_argv");
+				for (n = 0; n < *argcp; ++n) {
+				    newp[n] = (*argvp)[n];
+				}
+				*argvp = newp;
+				doalloc = TRUE;
 			    }
-			    /* The new array is not NULL-terminated yet. */
-			    *argvp = newp;
-			    doalloc = TRUE;
+			    dialog_opts = dlg_realloc(bool, need, dialog_opts);
+			    assert_ptr(dialog_opts, "unescape_argv");
 			}
-			dialog_opts = dlg_realloc(bool, need, dialog_opts);
-			assert_ptr(dialog_opts, "unescape_argv");
-
-			/* Shift the arguments after '--file <filepath>'
-			   right by (added - 2) positions */
-			for (n = *argcp - 1; n >= j + 2; --n) {
-			    (*argvp)[n + added - 2] = (*argvp)[n];
-			    dialog_opts[n + added - 2] = dialog_opts[n];
+			if (added > 2) {
+			    for (n = *argcp; n >= j + 2; --n) {
+				(*argvp)[n + added - 2] = (*argvp)[n];
+				dialog_opts[n + added - 2] = dialog_opts[n];
+			    }
+			} else if (added == 1) {
+			    for (n = j; n < *argcp; ++n) {
+				(*argvp)[n] = (*argvp)[n + 1];
+				dialog_opts[n] = dialog_opts[n + 1];
+			    }
 			}
-		    } else if (added < 2) {
-			/* 0 or 1 argument read from the included file
-			   -> shift the arguments after '--file <filepath>'
-			   left by (2 - added) positions */
-			for (n = j + added; n + 2 - added < *argcp; ++n) {
-			    (*argvp)[n] = (*argvp)[n + 2 - added];
-			    dialog_opts[n] = dialog_opts[n + 2 - added];
+			for (n = 0; n < added; ++n) {
+			    (*argvp)[n + j] = list[n];
+			    dialog_opts[n + j] = FALSE;
 			}
+			*argcp += added - 2;
+			free(list);
+			--j;	/* force rescan */
 		    }
-		    /* Copy the inserted arguments to *argvp */
-		    for (n = 0; n < added; ++n) {
-			(*argvp)[n + j] = list[n];
-			dialog_opts[n + j] = FALSE;
-		    }
-		    *argcp += added - 2;
-		    (*argvp)[*argcp] = 0;	/* Write the NULL terminator */
-		    free(list);	/* No-op if 'list' is NULL */
-		    /* Force rescan starting from the first inserted argument */
-		    --j;
-		    continue;
 		} else {
 		    dlg_exiterr("Cannot open --file %s", filename);
 		}
+		(*argvp)[*argcp] = 0;
+		++j;
+		continue;
 	    } else {
 		dlg_exiterr("No value given for --file");
 	    }