diff --git a/youtube_dl/options.py b/youtube_dl/options.py
index 8c4ff12bd..5eccc0a70 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/options.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/options.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 import os.path
 import optparse
-import shlex
 import sys
 
 from .downloader.external import list_external_downloaders
@@ -11,6 +10,7 @@
     compat_get_terminal_size,
     compat_getenv,
     compat_kwargs,
+    compat_shlex_split,
 )
 from .utils import (
     preferredencoding,
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def _readOptions(filename_bytes, default=[]):
         try:
             res = []
             for l in optionf:
-                res += shlex.split(l, comments=True)
+                res += compat_shlex_split(l, comments=True)
         finally:
             optionf.close()
         return res