diff --git a/src/libsystemd/sd-daemon/sd-daemon.c b/src/libsystemd/sd-daemon/sd-daemon.c
index da5242c3b7..50bdcb1a23 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd/sd-daemon/sd-daemon.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd/sd-daemon/sd-daemon.c
@@ -637,8 +637,8 @@ static int pid_notify_with_fds_internal(
         }
 
         if (DEBUG_LOGGING) {
-                _cleanup_free_ char *escaped = xescape_full(state, "\"", /* console_width = */ SIZE_MAX, XESCAPE_8_BIT);
-                log_debug("Notify message sent to '%s': \"%s\"", e, escaped ?: state);
+                _cleanup_free_ char *escaped = shell_escape(state, "\"");
+                log_debug("Notify message sent to '%s': \"%s\"", e, strnull(escaped));
         }
 
         return 1;