diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/filter/core.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/filter/core.py
index e3e01c9d67e..6d2d9a38197 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/filter/core.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/filter/core.py
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ def strftime(string_format, second=None):
 
 def quote(a):
     ''' return its argument quoted for shell usage '''
-    return shlex_quote(a)
+    return shlex_quote(to_text(a))
 
 
 def fileglob(pathname):