diff --git a/zuul/cmd/migrate.py b/zuul/cmd/migrate.py
index 1b2e44ee5e..8ed098b313 100644
--- a/zuul/cmd/migrate.py
+++ b/zuul/cmd/migrate.py
@@ -542,9 +542,9 @@ class Job:
         # want no matter how deep it is), exclude anything that
         # doesn't match the thing we want or is a directory, then get
         # rid of empty directories left over at the end.
-        rsync_opts = ['--include="%s"' % source,
-                      '--include="*/"',
-                      '--exclude="*"',
+        rsync_opts = ['--include=%s' % source,
+                      '--include=*/',
+                      '--exclude=*',
                       '--prune-empty-dirs']
         return rsync_opts