diff --git a/sequencer.c b/sequencer.c
index f51d403b7d..e4a3f0081f 100644
--- a/sequencer.c
+++ b/sequencer.c
@@ -2876,13 +2876,18 @@ static int populate_opts_cb(const char *key, const char *value, void *data)
 void parse_strategy_opts(struct replay_opts *opts, char *raw_opts)
 {
 	int i;
+	int count;
 	char *strategy_opts_string = raw_opts;
 
 	if (*strategy_opts_string == ' ')
 		strategy_opts_string++;
 
-	opts->xopts_nr = split_cmdline(strategy_opts_string,
-				       (const char ***)&opts->xopts);
+	count = split_cmdline(strategy_opts_string,
+			      (const char ***)&opts->xopts);
+	if (count < 0)
+		die(_("could not split '%s': %s"), strategy_opts_string,
+			    split_cmdline_strerror(count));
+	opts->xopts_nr = count;
 	for (i = 0; i < opts->xopts_nr; i++) {
 		const char *arg = opts->xopts[i];
 
diff --git a/t/t3436-rebase-more-options.sh b/t/t3436-rebase-more-options.sh
index 94671d3c46..c3184c9ade 100755
--- a/t/t3436-rebase-more-options.sh
+++ b/t/t3436-rebase-more-options.sh
@@ -40,6 +40,24 @@ test_expect_success 'setup' '
 	EOF
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'bad -X <strategy-option> arguments: unclosed quote' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	fatal: could not split '\''--bad'\'': unclosed quote
+	EOF
+	test_expect_code 128 git rebase -X"bad argument\"" side main >out 2>actual &&
+	test_must_be_empty out &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'bad -X <strategy-option> arguments: bad escape' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	fatal: could not split '\''--bad'\'': cmdline ends with \
+	EOF
+	test_expect_code 128 git rebase -X"bad escape \\" side main >out 2>actual &&
+	test_must_be_empty out &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success '--ignore-whitespace works with apply backend' '
 	test_must_fail git rebase --apply main side &&
 	git rebase --abort &&