diff --git a/Source/cmMakefile.cxx b/Source/cmMakefile.cxx
index 0e4f888f03..39468417e5 100644
--- a/Source/cmMakefile.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmMakefile.cxx
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ void cmMakefile::PrintCommandTrace(
 
   args.reserve(lff.Arguments().size());
   for (cmListFileArgument const& arg : lff.Arguments()) {
-    if (expand) {
+    if (expand && arg.Delim != cmListFileArgument::Bracket) {
       temp = arg.Value;
       this->ExpandVariablesInString(temp);
       args.push_back(temp);
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/trace-expand.cmake b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/trace-expand.cmake
index e69de29bb2..24da02a674 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/trace-expand.cmake
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/trace-expand.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+set(a [[\B]])