diff --git a/cmd-line-utils/libedit/history.c b/cmd-line-utils/libedit/history.c
index 6d2176c258b3..6f9be53fc32a 100644
--- a/cmd-line-utils/libedit/history.c
+++ b/cmd-line-utils/libedit/history.c
@@ -827,7 +827,7 @@ history_save(TYPE(History) *h, const char *fname)
 			}
 			ptr = nptr;
 		}
-		(void) strvis(ptr, str, VIS_WHITE);
+		(void) strvis(ptr, str, VIS_SAFE);
 		(void) fprintf(fp, "%s\n", ptr);
 	}
 oomem: