diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/IOBinding.py b/Lib/idlelib/IOBinding.py
index 9528c9a..c4f14ef 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/IOBinding.py
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/IOBinding.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import os
 import types
+import pipes
 import sys
 import codecs
 import tempfile
@@ -458,7 +459,7 @@
         else: #no printing for this platform
             printPlatform = False
         if printPlatform:  #we can try to print for this platform
-            command = command % filename
+            command = command % pipes.quote(filename)
             pipe = os.popen(command, "r")
             # things can get ugly on NT if there is no printer available.
             output = pipe.read().strip()
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 26ec822..a88c888 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -199,6 +199,9 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #16829: IDLE printing no longer fails if there are spaces or other
+  special characters in the file path.
+
 - Issue #13899: \A, \Z, and \B now correctly match the A, Z, and B literals
   when used inside character classes (e.g. '[\A]').  Patch by Matthew Barnett.