diff --git a/scripts/dev/ci/travis_install.sh b/scripts/dev/ci/travis_install.sh
index b6f1f7d6d..f5d75eed5 100644
--- a/scripts/dev/ci/travis_install.sh
+++ b/scripts/dev/ci/travis_install.sh
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ brew_install() {
 
 pip_install() {
     # this uses python2
-    travis_retry sudo -H python -m pip install $1
+    travis_retry sudo -H python -m pip install "$@"
 }
 
 npm_install() {