README.md |  2 ++
 nnn.1     |  3 ++-
 nnn.c     | 26 +++++++++++++++++++++-----

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c7fd3e3735088058e6c24563863dce884a7ec809..4f0f72d9f3696c9d2b12b686e8b5022fa625f6cc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -389,6 +389,8 @@
     export NNN_QUOTE_ON=1
 This is particularly useful if you are planning to copy the whole string to the shell to run a command. Quotes can be toggled at runtime using <kbd>^T</kbd>.
 
+Note that the filename is not escaped. So copying may still fail for filenames having quote(s) in them.
+
 #### copy file paths when X is missing
 
 A very common scenario on headless remote servers connected via SSH. As the clipboard is missing, `nnn` copies the path names to the tmp file `/tmp/nnncp$USER`.
diff --git a/nnn.1 b/nnn.1
index f44281f0d9c311cb7eb685dd75e72d1bbccb48a5..e420593480868500565449bf5681639011e9b5d2 100644
--- a/nnn.1
+++ b/nnn.1
@@ -263,7 +263,8 @@     export NNN_NO_X=1
 .Ed
 .Pp
 \fBNNN_QUOTE_ON:\fR wrap copied paths within single quotes. Useful for pasting
-names in the shell.
+names in the shell. Note that the filename is not escaped. So copying may still fail
+for filenames having quote(s) in them.
 .Pp
 \fBNNN_SCRIPT:\fR path to a custom script to invoke with currently selected file name as argument 1.
 .Bd -literal
diff --git a/nnn.c b/nnn.c
index 3e90509401b0c43fea21ab03107d4a7111912897..0e5e5ea722c7ecc23fd36287dbb2692fccb25433 100644
--- a/nnn.c
+++ b/nnn.c
@@ -1752,6 +1752,19 @@
 	return grp->gr_name;
 }
 
+static bool
+istgtdir(const char *tgtpath)
+{
+	if (tgtpath) {
+		struct stat tgtsb;
+		int r = stat(tgtpath, &tgtsb);
+		if ((r == 0) && (tgtsb.st_mode & S_IFMT) == S_IFDIR)
+			return TRUE;
+	}
+
+	return FALSE;
+}
+
 /*
  * Follows the stat(1) output closely
  */
@@ -1772,16 +1785,19 @@
 	/* Show file name or 'symlink' -> 'target' */
 	if (perms[0] == 'l') {
 		/* Note that MAX_CMD_LEN > PATH_MAX */
-		ssize_t len = readlink(fpath, g_buf, MAX_CMD_LEN);
-
-		if (len != -1) {
-			g_buf[len] = '\0';
+		char *tgt = realpath(fpath, g_buf);
+		if (tgt) {
+			char ch[] = {'\'', '\0', '\0'};
+			if (istgtdir(g_buf)) {
+				ch[1] = ch[0];
+				ch[0] = '/';
+			}
 
 			/*
 			 * We pass g_buf but unescape() operates on g_buf too!
 			 * Read the API notes for information on how this works.
 			 */
-			dprintf(fd, " -> '%s'", unescape(g_buf, 0));
+			dprintf(fd, " -> '%s%s", unescape(g_buf, 0), ch);
 		}
 	}