diff --git a/lib/tools/Config.js b/lib/tools/Config.js
index a3da91c4c..aa1a6d92f 100644
--- a/lib/tools/Config.js
+++ b/lib/tools/Config.js
@@ -55,6 +55,76 @@ var Config = module.exports = {
   }
 };
 
+function tokenizePm2ConfigArrayString(input) {
+  var tokens = [];
+  var token = '';
+  var quote = null;
+  var escape = false;
+  var stripQuoteDelimiters = false;
+
+  function flush() {
+    if (token && token.trim()) {
+      tokens.push(token);
+    }
+    token = '';
+  }
+
+  function isWhitespace(ch) {
+    return ch === ' ' || ch === '\t' || ch === '\n' || ch === '\r' || ch === '\f' || ch === '\v';
+  }
+
+  for (var i = 0; i < input.length; i++) {
+    var ch = input[i];
+
+    if (escape) {
+      token += ch;
+      escape = false;
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (ch === '\\') {
+      token += ch;
+      escape = true;
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (quote) {
+      if (ch === quote) {
+        if (!stripQuoteDelimiters) {
+          token += ch;
+        }
+        quote = null;
+        stripQuoteDelimiters = false;
+        continue;
+      }
+      token += ch;
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (ch === '"' || ch === "'") {
+      // Keep legacy behavior:
+      // - standalone quoted token: "a b" -> a b
+      // - quoted value inside existing token: --k="a b" -> --k="a b"
+      stripQuoteDelimiters = token.length === 0;
+      quote = ch;
+      if (!stripQuoteDelimiters) {
+        token += ch;
+      }
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (isWhitespace(ch)) {
+      flush();
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    token += ch;
+  }
+
+  flush();
+  return tokens;
+}
+
 /**
  * Filter / Alias options
  */
@@ -200,12 +270,7 @@ Config._valid = function(key, value, sch){
   // If first type is Array, but current is String, try to split them.
   if(scht.length > 1 && type != scht[0] && type == '[object String]'){
     if(scht[0] == '[object Array]') {
-      value = value.split(/([\w\-]+\="[^"]*")|([\w\-]+\='[^']*')|"([^"]*)"|'([^']*)'|\s/)
-      // unfortunately, js does not support lookahead RegExp (/(?<!\\)\s+/) now (until next ver).
-      //value = value.split(/((?<![\w\-])([\w\-]+\="[^"]*")|(?<![\w\-])([\w\-]+\='[^']*')|"([^"]*)"|'([^']*)'|\s )/)
-        .filter(function(v){
-          return v && v.trim();
-        });
+      value = tokenizePm2ConfigArrayString(value);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/test/programmatic/json_validation.mocha.js b/test/programmatic/json_validation.mocha.js
index 496cd9971..216b6de0a 100644
--- a/test/programmatic/json_validation.mocha.js
+++ b/test/programmatic/json_validation.mocha.js
@@ -72,4 +72,49 @@ describe('JSON validation tests', function() {
     done();
   });
 
+  it('should split args string containing dashed flags (regression #6031)', function() {
+    var ret = Config.validateJSON({
+      script: 'app.js',
+      name: 'app',
+      args: 'start -c /app/nuxt.config.ts'
+    });
+
+    ret.errors.length.should.eql(0);
+    ret.config.args.should.eql(['start', '-c', '/app/nuxt.config.ts']);
+  });
+
+  it('should preserve quoted args when splitting string args', function() {
+    var ret = Config.validateJSON({
+      script: 'app.js',
+      name: 'app',
+      args: 'run --message "hello world" --single \'foo bar\' --another="baz qux"' 
+    });
+
+    ret.errors.length.should.eql(0);
+    ret.config.args.should.eql([
+      'run',
+      '--message',
+      'hello world',
+      '--single',
+      'foo bar',
+      '--another=\"baz qux\"'
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('should split node_args string into array', function() {
+    const cli = '--max-old-space-size=4096 --use-openssl-ca';
+
+    const expected = ['--max-old-space-size=4096', '--use-openssl-ca'];
+
+    const ret=Config.validateJSON({
+      script: 'app.js',
+      name: 'split-test',
+      node_args: cli
+    });
+
+    ret.errors.length.should.eql(0);
+
+    ret.config.node_args.should.eql(expected);
+  });
+
 });