diff --git a/templates/lxc-ubuntu-cloud.in b/templates/lxc-ubuntu-cloud.in
index a2af0035e..82a7f7484 100644
--- a/templates/lxc-ubuntu-cloud.in
+++ b/templates/lxc-ubuntu-cloud.in
@@ -338,9 +338,9 @@ build_root_tgz()
         wget $url || { echo "Couldn't find cloud image $url."; exit 1; }
     fi
     echo "Creating new cached cloud image rootfs"
-    tar --wildcards -zxf $tarname $imgname
+    tar --wildcards -zxf "$tarname" "$imgname"
     mount -o loop $imgname $xdir
-    (cd $xdir; tar --numeric-owner -cpzf ../$filename .)
+    (cd $xdir; tar --numeric-owner -cpzf "../$filename" .)
     umount $xdir
     rm -f $tarname $imgname
     rmdir $xdir
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ do_extract_rootfs() {
     echo "Extracting container rootfs"
     mkdir -p $rootfs
     cd $rootfs
-    tar --numeric-owner -xpzf $cache/$filename
+    tar --numeric-owner -xpzf "$cache/$filename"
 }
 
 if [ -n "$tarball" ]; then