diff --git a/pkg/edit/complete/complete_test.go b/pkg/edit/complete/complete_test.go
index cdb8f009f..03acd227e 100644
--- a/pkg/edit/complete/complete_test.go
+++ b/pkg/edit/complete/complete_test.go
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func TestComplete(t *testing.T) {
 			return items
 		},
 		ArgGenerator: func(args []string) ([]RawItem, error) {
-			item := noQuoteItem(fmt.Sprintf("%#v", args))
+			item := NoQuoteItem(fmt.Sprintf("%#v", args))
 			return []RawItem{item}, nil
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/edit/complete/completers.go b/pkg/edit/complete/completers.go
index 387648d5e..2068a1497 100644
--- a/pkg/edit/complete/completers.go
+++ b/pkg/edit/complete/completers.go
@@ -159,10 +159,10 @@ func completeVariable(p np.Path, ev *eval.Evaler, cfg Config) (*context, []RawIt
 
 	var items []RawItem
 	eachVariableInNs(ev, p, ns, func(varname string) {
-		items = append(items, noQuoteItem(parse.QuoteVariableName(varname)))
+		items = append(items, NoQuoteItem(parse.QuoteVariableName(varname)))
 	})
 	if ns == "" {
-		items = append(items, noQuoteItem("e:"), noQuoteItem("E:"))
+		items = append(items, NoQuoteItem("e:"), NoQuoteItem("E:"))
 	}
 
 	return ctx, items, nil
diff --git a/pkg/edit/complete/generators.go b/pkg/edit/complete/generators.go
index 66c575463..ac53e356f 100644
--- a/pkg/edit/complete/generators.go
+++ b/pkg/edit/complete/generators.go
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ func generateArgs(args []string, ev *eval.Evaler, p np.Path, cfg Config) ([]RawI
 		ns, _ := eval.SplitIncompleteQNameNs(qname)
 		var items []RawItem
 		eachVariableInNs(ev, p, ns, func(varname string) {
-			items = append(items, noQuoteItem(sigil+parse.QuoteVariableName(ns+varname)))
+			items = append(items, NoQuoteItem(sigil+parse.QuoteVariableName(ns+varname)))
 		})
 		return items, nil
 	case "del":
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func generateArgs(args []string, ev *eval.Evaler, p np.Path, cfg Config) ([]RawI
 		// offer builtin variables.
 		var items []RawItem
 		addItem := func(varname string) {
-			items = append(items, noQuoteItem(parse.QuoteVariableName(varname)))
+			items = append(items, NoQuoteItem(parse.QuoteVariableName(varname)))
 		}
 		ev.Global().IterateKeysString(addItem)
 		eachDefinedVariable(p[len(p)-1], p[0].Range().From, addItem)
diff --git a/pkg/edit/complete/raw_item.go b/pkg/edit/complete/raw_item.go
index 943ab658d..254849785 100644
--- a/pkg/edit/complete/raw_item.go
+++ b/pkg/edit/complete/raw_item.go
@@ -17,13 +17,15 @@ func (p PlainItem) Cook(q parse.PrimaryType) modes.CompletionItem {
 	return modes.CompletionItem{ToInsert: quoted, ToShow: ui.T(s)}
 }
 
-// noQuoteItem is a RawItem implementation that does not quote when cooked. This
-// type is not exposed, since argument generators never need this.
-type noQuoteItem string
+// NoQuoteItem is a RawItem implementation that does not quote when cooked. The
+// caller is responsible for pre-quoting the string (e.g. with
+// parse.QuoteVariableName) so that it is valid in the context where it will be
+// inserted.
+type NoQuoteItem string
 
-func (nq noQuoteItem) String() string { return string(nq) }
+func (nq NoQuoteItem) String() string { return string(nq) }
 
-func (nq noQuoteItem) Cook(parse.PrimaryType) modes.CompletionItem {
+func (nq NoQuoteItem) Cook(parse.PrimaryType) modes.CompletionItem {
 	s := string(nq)
 	return modes.CompletionItem{ToInsert: s, ToShow: ui.T(s)}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/edit/completion.go b/pkg/edit/completion.go
index 72f4d965f..017baf1a5 100644
--- a/pkg/edit/completion.go
+++ b/pkg/edit/completion.go
@@ -552,11 +552,11 @@ func adaptVariableGenerator(ev *eval.Evaler, v any) complete.VariableGenerator {
 			for v := range ch {
 				switch v := v.(type) {
 				case string:
-					collect(complete.PlainItem(v))
+					collect(complete.NoQuoteItem(parse.QuoteVariableName(v)))
 				case complexItem:
 					collect(complete.ComplexItem(v))
 				default:
-					collect(complete.PlainItem(vals.ToString(v)))
+					collect(complete.NoQuoteItem(parse.QuoteVariableName(vals.ToString(v))))
 				}
 			}
 		}
@@ -565,7 +565,7 @@ func adaptVariableGenerator(ev *eval.Evaler, v any) complete.VariableGenerator {
 			for {
 				line, err := buffered.ReadString('\n')
 				if line != "" {
-					collect(complete.PlainItem(strutil.ChopLineEnding(line)))
+					collect(complete.NoQuoteItem(parse.QuoteVariableName(strutil.ChopLineEnding(line))))
 				}
 				if err != nil {
 					break