diff --git a/orte/mca/plm/base/plm_base_launch_support.c b/orte/mca/plm/base/plm_base_launch_support.c
index bb1e6b4717..41712bdc26 100644
--- a/orte/mca/plm/base/plm_base_launch_support.c
+++ b/orte/mca/plm/base/plm_base_launch_support.c
@@ -1083,14 +1083,26 @@ int orte_plm_base_orted_append_basic_args(int *argc, char ***argv,
 
     /* check for debug flags */
     if (orte_debug_flag) {
-        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "--debug");
+        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "-mca");
+        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "orte_debug");
+        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "1");
     }
     if (orte_debug_daemons_flag) {
-        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "--debug-daemons");
+        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "-mca");
+        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "orte_debug_daemons");
+        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "1");
     }
     if (orte_debug_daemons_file_flag) {
-        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "--debug-daemons-file");
+        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "-mca");
+        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "orte_debug_daemons_file");
+        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "1");
     }
+    if (orte_leave_session_attached) {
+        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "-mca");
+        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "orte_leave_session_attached");
+        opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "1");
+    }
+
     if (orted_spin_flag) {
         opal_argv_append(argc, argv, "--spin");
     }
@@ -1302,15 +1314,10 @@ int orte_plm_base_orted_append_basic_args(int *argc, char ***argv,
                 }
             }
             if (!ignore) {
-                /* even if it is a single word, we have to try and quote it
-                 * because it could contain a special character like a colon
-                 * or semicolon */
-                (void)asprintf(&tmp_force, "\"%s\"", orted_cmd_line[i+2]);
                 /* pass it along */
                 opal_argv_append(argc, argv, orted_cmd_line[i]);
                 opal_argv_append(argc, argv, orted_cmd_line[i+1]);
-                opal_argv_append(argc, argv, tmp_force);
-                free(tmp_force);
+                opal_argv_append(argc, argv, orted_cmd_line[i+2]);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/orte/mca/plm/rsh/plm_rsh_module.c b/orte/mca/plm/rsh/plm_rsh_module.c
index b61cde48c8..5bb3b21062 100644
--- a/orte/mca/plm/rsh/plm_rsh_module.c
+++ b/orte/mca/plm/rsh/plm_rsh_module.c
@@ -573,16 +573,12 @@ static int setup_launch(int *argcptr, char ***argvptr,
      */
     cnt = opal_argv_count(orted_cmd_line);    
     for (i=0; i < cnt; i+=3) {
-        if (NULL != strchr(orted_cmd_line[i+2], ' ')) {
+        if (NULL == strchr(orted_cmd_line[i+2], ' ')) {
             continue;
         }
-        /* protect the value with quotes */
-        (void)asprintf(&param, "\"%s\"", orted_cmd_line[i+2]);
-        /* now pass it along */
         opal_argv_append(&argc, &argv, orted_cmd_line[i]);
         opal_argv_append(&argc, &argv, orted_cmd_line[i+1]);
-        opal_argv_append(&argc, &argv, param);
-        free(param);
+        opal_argv_append(&argc, &argv, orted_cmd_line[i+2]);
     }
     
     /* unless told otherwise... */
@@ -611,22 +607,32 @@ static int setup_launch(int *argcptr, char ***argvptr,
                     }
                 }
                 if (!found) {
-                    char *p2;
                     /* add it */
                     opal_argv_append(&argc, &argv, "-mca");
                     opal_argv_append(&argc, &argv, param);
-                    /* there could be multi-word values here, or
-                     * values with special characters, so protect
-                     * the value with quotes */
-                    (void)asprintf(&p2, "\"%s\"", value);
-                    opal_argv_append(&argc, &argv, p2);
-                    free(p2);
+                    opal_argv_append(&argc, &argv, value);
                 }
                 free(param);
             }
         }
     }
     
+   /* in the rsh environment, we can append multi-word arguments
+    * by enclosing them in quotes. Check for any multi-word
+    * mca params passed to mpirun and protect them
+    */
+    for (i=0; NULL != argv[i]; i++) {
+        if (0 != strcmp("-mca", argv[i])) {
+            continue;
+        }
+        if (NULL == strchr(argv[i+2], ' ')) {
+            continue;
+        }
+        (void)asprintf(&param, "\"%s\"", argv[i+2]);
+        free(argv[i+2]);
+        argv[i+2] = param;
+    }
+
     value = opal_argv_join(argv, ' ');
     if (sysconf(_SC_ARG_MAX) < (int)strlen(value)) {
         orte_show_help("help-plm-rsh.txt", "cmd-line-too-long",