diff --git a/lib/menubar/init.lua b/lib/menubar/init.lua
index 53dd43a7b..f9aea0999 100644
--- a/lib/menubar/init.lua
+++ b/lib/menubar/init.lua
@@ -386,8 +386,8 @@ local function prompt_keypressed_callback(mod, key, comm)
             current_item = #shownitems
             if mod.Mod1 then
                 -- add a terminal to the cmdline
-                shownitems[current_item].cmdline = menubar.utils.terminal
-                        .. " -e " .. shownitems[current_item].cmdline
+                shownitems[current_item].cmdline = menubar.utils.terminal .. ' ' ..
+                        menubar.utils.terminal_execute_option .. ' ' .. shownitems[current_item].cmdline
             end
         end
         return perform_action(shownitems[current_item])
diff --git a/lib/menubar/utils.lua b/lib/menubar/utils.lua
index ac7277fbd..134afc650 100644
--- a/lib/menubar/utils.lua
+++ b/lib/menubar/utils.lua
@@ -35,9 +35,9 @@ local utils = {}
 utils.terminal = 'xterm'
 
 --- Terminal argument which indicates the execution of command
--- Usually something like ' -e ', ' -x ', ' -- '
+-- Usually something like '-e', '-x', '--'
 -- @tfield string menubar.utils.terminal_execute_option
-utils.terminal_execute_option = ' -e '
+utils.terminal_execute_option = '-e'
 
 --- The default icon for applications that don't provide any icon in
 -- their .desktop files.
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ function utils.parse_desktop_file(file)
             cmdline = cmdline:gsub('%%i', '')
         end
         if program.Terminal == true then
-            cmdline = utils.terminal .. utils.terminal_execute_option .. cmdline
+            cmdline = utils.terminal .. ' ' .. utils.terminal_execute_option .. ' ' .. cmdline
         end
         program.cmdline = cmdline
     end