diff --git a/src/Word.cc b/src/Word.cc
index 8fd417a..90d2d34 100644
--- a/src/Word.cc
+++ b/src/Word.cc
@@ -169,14 +169,15 @@ std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& stream, const Word& word) {
 }
 
 std::string Word::StringElement::string() const {
-    if (!escape || text.find(' ') == std::string::npos) {
+    if (!escape || text.find_first_of(" $") == std::string::npos) {
         return text;
     }
 
     std::string escaped;
     for (char c : text) {
-        if (c == ' ') {
-            escaped += "$ ";
+        if (c == ' ' || c == '$') {
+            escaped += "$";
+            escaped += c;
         }
         else {
             escaped += c;
diff --git a/tests/special-characters.test b/tests/special-characters.test
index bdc00b9..a14650d 100644
--- a/tests/special-characters.test
+++ b/tests/special-characters.test
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 arguments ..
 file build.fninja <>
 rule a
-    command = a rule build = "a$ b" |@ || | @
+    command = a rule build = "a$ b" |@ || | @ $$
 end-of-inline-data
 file build/build.ninja {} <>
 # This file is automatically created by fast-ninja from ../build.fninja
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ top_build_directory = .
 top_source_directory = ..
 
 rule a
-    command = a rule build = "a$ b" |@ || | @
+    command = a rule build = "a$ b" |@ || | @ $$
 
 rule fast-ninja
     command = fast-ninja ..