diff --git a/t/pod/headwithmarkup.t b/t/pod/headwithmarkup.t
index ef745d1..d5d5f67 100644
--- a/t/pod/headwithmarkup.t
+++ b/t/pod/headwithmarkup.t
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ my $blib = $ENV{PERL_CORE} ? '-I../../lib' : '-Mblib';
 my $pl = $0;
 $pl =~ s{t$}{pl};
 
-my $out = `$^X $blib $pl`;
+my $out = `"$^X" $blib $pl`;
 $out =~ s{\s+}{ }gs;
 $out =~ s{^\s+|\s+$}{}gs;
 # we want to make sure that the marked-up text is not lost
diff --git a/t/pod/pod2usage2.t b/t/pod/pod2usage2.t
index 0ed928c..6f301aa 100644
--- a/t/pod/pod2usage2.t
+++ b/t/pod/pod2usage2.t
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ SKIP: {
     my $perldoc = $^X . 'doc';
     skip "Missing perldoc binary", 2 unless -x $perldoc;
 
-    my $out = qx[$perldoc 2>&1] || '';
+    my $out = qx["$perldoc" 2>&1] || '';
     skip "Need perl-doc package", 2 if $out =~ qr[You need to install the perl-doc package to use this program];
 
     ($exit, $text) = getoutput( sub {
diff --git a/t/pod/selectheaders.t b/t/pod/selectheaders.t
index 0badc2f..d4de6de 100644
--- a/t/pod/selectheaders.t
+++ b/t/pod/selectheaders.t
@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@ my $blib = $ENV{PERL_CORE} ? '-I../../lib' : '-Mblib';
 my $pl = $0;
 $pl =~ s{t$}{pl};
 
-my $out = `$^X $blib $pl Foo`;
+my $out = `"$^X" $blib $pl Foo`;
 $out =~ s{\s+}{ }gs;
 $out =~ s{^\s+|\s+$}{}gs;
 is($out, 'Foo: This is foo', 'selection of Foo section');
 
-$out = `$^X $blib $pl Bar`;
+$out = `"$^X" $blib $pl Bar`;
 $out =~ s{\s+}{ }gs;
 $out =~ s{^\s+|\s+$}{}gs;
 is($out, 'Bar: This is bar.', 'selection of Bar section');
diff --git a/t/pod/selectsections.t b/t/pod/selectsections.t
index c6c1801..035fb09 100644
--- a/t/pod/selectsections.t
+++ b/t/pod/selectsections.t
@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@ my $blib = $ENV{PERL_CORE} ? '-I../../lib' : '-Mblib';
 my $pl = $0;
 $pl =~ s{t$}{pl};
 
-my $out = `$^X $blib $pl 0`;
+my $out = `"$^X" $blib $pl 0`;
 $out =~ s{\s+}{ }gs;
 $out =~ s{^\s+|\s+$}{}gs;
 is($out, 'Name: trypodi - pod sections usage test Actions: Para for actions. help: Help text.', 'selection of specific sections');
 
-$out = `$^X $blib $pl 1`;
+$out = `"$^X" $blib $pl 1`;
 $out =~ s{\s+}{ }gs;
 $out =~ s{^\s+|\s+$}{}gs;
 is($out, 'Caveats: Description caveat text. Caveats: Options caveat text. Caveats: Environment caveat text.', 'selection of caveats sections');