diff --git a/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch-service.bat b/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch-service.bat
index 8326c689b2877..dfb854a47087e 100644
--- a/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch-service.bat
+++ b/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch-service.bat
@@ -163,15 +163,15 @@ for %%a in ("%ES_JAVA_OPTS:;=","%") do (
 @endlocal & set JVM_MS=%JVM_MS% & set JVM_MX=%JVM_MX% & set JVM_SS=%JVM_SS%
 
 if "%JVM_MS%" == "" (
-  echo minimum heap size not set; configure using -Xms via %ES_JVM_OPTIONS% or ES_JAVA_OPTS
+  echo minimum heap size not set; configure using -Xms via "%ES_JVM_OPTIONS%" or ES_JAVA_OPTS
   goto:eof
 )
 if "%JVM_MX%" == "" (
-  echo maximum heap size not set; configure using -Xmx via %ES_JVM_OPTIONS% or ES_JAVA_OPTS
+  echo maximum heap size not set; configure using -Xmx via "%ES_JVM_OPTIONS%" or ES_JAVA_OPTS
   goto:eof
 )
 if "%JVM_SS%" == "" (
-  echo thread stack size not set; configure using -Xss via %ES_JVM_OPTIONS% or ES_JAVA_OPTS
+  echo thread stack size not set; configure using -Xss via "%ES_JVM_OPTIONS%" or ES_JAVA_OPTS
   goto:eof
 )