diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
index 993ca94..25f70cf 100644
--- a/justfile
+++ b/justfile
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ allFunctions := functionsWithArgs + zeroArgFunctions
 # generate an optimized Vim-style "very magic" regex snippet from a list of literal strings to match
 optrx +strings:
 	#!/usr/bin/env python3
-	vparam = ''{{quote(strings)}}''
+	vparam = """{{strings}}"""
 	import collections
 	strings_list = vparam.split('|') if '|' in vparam else vparam.strip().split()
 	charByPrefix=dict()
diff --git a/tests/justfile b/tests/justfile
index 1d13a74..f2275ad 100644
--- a/tests/justfile
+++ b/tests/justfile
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 # To enable using preview recipes from cwd inside tests/
 set fallback
 
-# run tests
+# run syntax highlighting tests
 run FILTER='':
-  cargo run {{FILTER}}
+  cargo run -- {{quote(FILTER)}}
 
 # run tests whenever a file changes
 watch FILTER='':