diff --git a/builtin/am.c b/builtin/am.c
index 1399c8dd880f86190534b9c9e0a5e84f48ebeceb..56cf26e8b7dd794c34c95524caaf5c86aa3252ba 100644
--- a/builtin/am.c
+++ b/builtin/am.c
@@ -1740,7 +1740,7 @@ static int do_interactive(struct am_state *state)
 
 			if (!pager)
 				pager = "cat";
-			argv_array_push(&cp.args, pager);
+			prepare_pager_args(&cp, pager);
 			argv_array_push(&cp.args, am_path(state, "patch"));
 			run_command(&cp);
 		}