diff --git a/test/shaping/data/aots/tests/gsub3_1_simple.tests b/test/shaping/data/aots/tests/gsub3_1_simple.tests
index b8a28d15a..5e65ba055 100644
--- a/test/shaping/data/aots/tests/gsub3_1_simple.tests
+++ b/test/shaping/data/aots/tests/gsub3_1_simple.tests
@@ -1 +1 @@
-#../fonts/gsub3_1_simple_f1.otf:--features="-test[1],test[3],test[5]=2,test[7]=3,-test[9],test[11]" --no-clusters --no-glyph-names --no-positions:U+0011,U+0012,U+0011,U+0012,U+0011,U+0012,U+0011,U+0012,U+0011,U+0012,U+0011,U+0012,U+0011:[17|18|17|20|17|21|17|22|17|18|17|20|17]
+../fonts/gsub3_1_simple_f1.otf:--features="-test[1],test[3],test[5]=2,test[7]=3,-test[9],test[11]" --no-clusters --no-glyph-names --no-positions:U+0011,U+0012,U+0011,U+0012,U+0011,U+0012,U+0011,U+0012,U+0011,U+0012,U+0011,U+0012,U+0011:[17|18|17|20|17|21|17|22|17|18|17|20|17]
diff --git a/util/options.cc b/util/options.cc
index 42d3c6cc7..6b1a6d4a9 100644
--- a/util/options.cc
+++ b/util/options.cc
@@ -258,12 +258,20 @@ parse_features (const char *name G_GNUC_UNUSED,
 {
   shape_options_t *shape_opts = (shape_options_t *) data;
   char *s = (char *) arg;
+  size_t l = strlen (s);
   char *p;
 
   shape_opts->num_features = 0;
   g_free (shape_opts->features);
   shape_opts->features = nullptr;
 
+  /* if the string is quoted, strip the quotes */
+  if (s[0] == s[l - 1] && (s[0] == '\"' || s[0] == '\''))
+  {
+    s[l - 1] = '\0';
+    s++;
+  }
+
   if (!*s)
     return true;