diff --git a/jupyterlab_git/git.py b/jupyterlab_git/git.py
index 15488be99..19a2a61e7 100644
--- a/jupyterlab_git/git.py
+++ b/jupyterlab_git/git.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 import subprocess
 import traceback
 from typing import Dict, List, Optional
-from urllib.parse import unquote
+from urllib.parse import quote, unquote
 
 import nbformat
 import pexpect
@@ -72,6 +72,9 @@ async def call_subprocess_with_authentication(
         env: "Optional[Dict[str, str]]" = None,
     ) -> "Tuple[int, str, str]":
         try:
+            if not os.path.exists(cwd):
+                cwd = quote(cwd, safe=":/\\")
+
             p = pexpect.spawn(
                 cmdline[0],
                 cmdline[1:],
@@ -111,6 +114,9 @@ def call_subprocess(
         cwd: "Optional[str]" = None,
         env: "Optional[Dict[str, str]]" = None,
     ) -> "Tuple[int, str, str]":
+        if not os.path.exists(cwd):
+            cwd = quote(cwd, safe=":/\\")
+
         process = subprocess.Popen(
             cmdline, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, cwd=cwd, env=env
         )