diff --git a/ci/testnet-deploy.sh b/ci/testnet-deploy.sh
index 272c97b7e4..b6cffa18fe 100755
--- a/ci/testnet-deploy.sh
+++ b/ci/testnet-deploy.sh
@@ -157,13 +157,14 @@ trap shutdown EXIT INT
 set -x
 
 # Build a string to pass zone opts to $cloudProvider.sh: "-z zone1 -z zone2 ..."
+zone_args=()
 for val in "${zone[@]}"; do
-  zone_args="$zone_args -z $val"
+  zone_args+="-z $val "
 done
 
 if ! $skipSetup; then
   echo "--- $cloudProvider.sh delete"
-  time net/"$cloudProvider".sh delete "$zone_args" -p "$netName" ${externalNode:+-x}
+  time net/"$cloudProvider".sh delete ${zone_args[*]} -p "$netName" ${externalNode:+-x}
   if $delete; then
     exit 0
   fi
@@ -175,7 +176,7 @@ if ! $skipSetup; then
     -c "$clientNodeCount"
     -n "$additionalFullNodeCount"
   )
-  create_args+=("$zone_args")
+  create_args+=(${zone_args[*]})
 
   if $blockstreamer; then
     create_args+=(-u)
@@ -211,7 +212,7 @@ else
   config_args=(
     -p "$netName"
   )
-  config_args+=("$zone_args")
+  config_args+=(${zone_args[*]})
   if $publicNetwork; then
     config_args+=(-P)
   fi
diff --git a/ci/testnet-manager.sh b/ci/testnet-manager.sh
index 0aa4cd9a75..47d11a3bfa 100755
--- a/ci/testnet-manager.sh
+++ b/ci/testnet-manager.sh
@@ -228,24 +228,26 @@ start() {
       GCE_ZONES=(us-west1-b asia-east2-a europe-west4-a southamerica-east1-b us-east4-c)
       EC2_ZONES=(sa-east-1a us-west-1a ap-northeast-2a eu-central-1a ca-central-1a)
 
-      # Build a string to pass as opts to testnet-deploy.sh: "-z zone1 -z zone2 ..."
+      # Build an array to pass as opts to testnet-deploy.sh: "-z zone1 -z zone2 ..."
+      GCE_ZONE_ARGS=()
       for val in "${GCE_ZONES[@]}"; do
-        GCE_ZONE_ARGS="$GCE_ZONE_ARGS -z $val"
+        GCE_ZONE_ARGS+="-z $val "
       done
 
+      EC2_ZONE_ARGS=()
       for val in "${EC2_ZONES[@]}"; do
-        EC2_ZONE_ARGS="$EC2_ZONE_ARGS -z $val"
+        EC2_ZONE_ARGS+="-z $val "
       done
 
       NO_VALIDATOR_SANITY=1 \
       RUST_LOG=solana=info \
-        ci/testnet-deploy.sh -p beta-testnet-solana-com -C ec2 "$EC2_ZONE_ARGS"\
+        ci/testnet-deploy.sh -p beta-testnet-solana-com -C ec2 ${EC2_ZONE_ARGS[*]} \
           -t "$CHANNEL_OR_TAG" -n 60 -c 0 -s -u -P -a eipalloc-0f286cf8a0771ce35 \
           ${maybeReuseLedger:+-r} \
           ${maybeDelete:+-D}
       NO_VALIDATOR_SANITY=1 \
       RUST_LOG=solana=info \
-        ci/testnet-deploy.sh -p beta-testnet-solana-com -C gce "$GCE_ZONE_ARGS"\
+        ci/testnet-deploy.sh -p beta-testnet-solana-com -C gce ${GCE_ZONE_ARGS[*]} \
           -t "$CHANNEL_OR_TAG" -n 40 -c 0 -x -P \
           ${maybeReuseLedger:+-r} \
           ${maybeDelete:+-D}