diff --git a/src/bin/initdb/Makefile b/src/bin/initdb/Makefile
index 094c8945c9..531cc979a4 100644
--- a/src/bin/initdb/Makefile
+++ b/src/bin/initdb/Makefile
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ include $(top_builddir)/src/Makefile.global
 
 override CPPFLAGS := -DFRONTEND -I$(libpq_srcdir) -I$(top_srcdir)/src/timezone $(CPPFLAGS)
 
+# note: we need libpq only because fe_utils does
+LDFLAGS += -L$(top_builddir)/src/fe_utils -lpgfeutils $(libpq_pgport)
+
 # use system timezone data?
 ifneq (,$(with_system_tzdata))
 override CPPFLAGS += '-DSYSTEMTZDIR="$(with_system_tzdata)"'
diff --git a/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c b/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c
index a978bbc328..aad6ba5639 100644
--- a/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c
+++ b/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@
 #include "getaddrinfo.h"
 #include "getopt_long.h"
 #include "miscadmin.h"
+#include "fe_utils/string_utils.h"
 
 
 /* Define PG_FLUSH_DATA_WORKS if we have an implementation for pg_flush_data */
@@ -331,14 +332,6 @@ do { \
 		output_failed = true, output_errno = errno; \
 } while (0)
 
-#ifndef WIN32
-#define QUOTE_PATH	""
-#define DIR_SEP "/"
-#else
-#define QUOTE_PATH	"\""
-#define DIR_SEP "\\"
-#endif
-
 static char *
 escape_quotes(const char *src)
 {
@@ -3359,7 +3352,8 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	int			c;
 	int			option_index;
 	char	   *effective_user;
-	char		bin_dir[MAXPGPATH];
+	PQExpBuffer start_db_cmd;
+	char		pg_ctl_path[MAXPGPATH];
 
 	/*
 	 * Ensure that buffering behavior of stdout and stderr matches what it is
@@ -3587,14 +3581,33 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if (authwarning != NULL)
 		fprintf(stderr, "%s", authwarning);
 
-	/* Get directory specification used to start this executable */
-	strlcpy(bin_dir, argv[0], sizeof(bin_dir));
-	get_parent_directory(bin_dir);
+	/*
+	 * Build up a shell command to tell the user how to start the server
+	 */
+	start_db_cmd = createPQExpBuffer();
+
+	/* Get directory specification used to start initdb ... */
+	strlcpy(pg_ctl_path, argv[0], sizeof(pg_ctl_path));
+	canonicalize_path(pg_ctl_path);
+	get_parent_directory(pg_ctl_path);
+	/* ... and tag on pg_ctl instead */
+	join_path_components(pg_ctl_path, pg_ctl_path, "pg_ctl");
+
+	/* path to pg_ctl, properly quoted */
+	appendShellString(start_db_cmd, pg_ctl_path);
+
+	/* add -D switch, with properly quoted data directory */
+	appendPQExpBufferStr(start_db_cmd, " -D ");
+	appendShellString(start_db_cmd, pgdata_native);
+
+	/* add suggested -l switch and "start" command */
+	appendPQExpBufferStr(start_db_cmd, " -l logfile start");
 
 	printf(_("\nSuccess. You can now start the database server using:\n\n"
-			 "    %s%s%spg_ctl%s -D %s%s%s -l logfile start\n\n"),
-	   QUOTE_PATH, bin_dir, (strlen(bin_dir) > 0) ? DIR_SEP : "", QUOTE_PATH,
-		   QUOTE_PATH, pgdata_native, QUOTE_PATH);
+			 "	  %s\n\n"),
+		   start_db_cmd->data);
+
+	destroyPQExpBuffer(start_db_cmd);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/fe_utils/string_utils.c b/src/fe_utils/string_utils.c
index 2c566b1ad7..edbc869e45 100644
--- a/src/fe_utils/string_utils.c
+++ b/src/fe_utils/string_utils.c
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ appendByteaLiteral(PQExpBuffer buf, const unsigned char *str, size_t length,
 
 /*
  * Append the given string to the shell command being built in the buffer,
- * with suitable shell-style quoting to create exactly one argument.
+ * with shell-style quoting as needed to create exactly one argument.
  *
  * Forbid LF or CR characters, which have scant practical use beyond designing
  * security breaches.  The Windows command shell is unusable as a conduit for
@@ -429,8 +429,22 @@ appendByteaLiteral(PQExpBuffer buf, const unsigned char *str, size_t length,
 void
 appendShellString(PQExpBuffer buf, const char *str)
 {
+#ifdef WIN32
+	int			backslash_run_length = 0;
+#endif
 	const char *p;
 
+	/*
+	 * Don't bother with adding quotes if the string is nonempty and clearly
+	 * contains only safe characters.
+	 */
+	if (*str != '\0' &&
+		strspn(str, "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789_./:") == strlen(str))
+	{
+		appendPQExpBufferStr(buf, str);
+		return;
+	}
+
 #ifndef WIN32
 	appendPQExpBufferChar(buf, '\'');
 	for (p = str; *p; p++)
@@ -450,7 +464,6 @@ appendShellString(PQExpBuffer buf, const char *str)
 	}
 	appendPQExpBufferChar(buf, '\'');
 #else							/* WIN32 */
-	int			backslash_run_length = 0;
 
 	/*
 	 * A Windows system() argument experiences two layers of interpretation.