diff --git a/src/extension/debugger/adapter/factory.ts b/src/extension/debugger/adapter/factory.ts
index 2a8090ed..0e1a4b82 100644
--- a/src/extension/debugger/adapter/factory.ts
+++ b/src/extension/debugger/adapter/factory.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import { sendTelemetryEvent } from '../../telemetry';
 import { Commands, EXTENSION_ROOT_DIR } from '../../common/constants';
 import { Common, DebugConfigStrings, Interpreters } from '../../common/utils/localize';
 import { IPersistentStateFactory } from '../../common/types';
-import { fileToCommandArgumentForPythonExt } from '../../common/stringUtils';
 import { PythonEnvironment } from '../../envExtApi';
 import { resolveEnvironment, getInterpreterDetails, runPythonExtensionCommand } from '../../common/python';
 
@@ -79,13 +78,12 @@ export class DebugAdapterDescriptorFactory implements IDebugAdapterDescriptorFac
             }
 
             let executable = command.shift() ?? 'python';
-
-            // Always ensure interpreter/command is quoted if necessary. Previously this was
-            // only done in the debugAdapterPath branch which meant that in the common case
-            // (using the built‑in adapter path) an interpreter path containing spaces would
-            // be passed unquoted, resulting in a fork/spawn failure on Windows. See bug
-            // report for details.
-            executable = fileToCommandArgumentForPythonExt(executable);
+            // DO NOT apply shell-style quoting here.
+            // The 'executable' path is passed to 'DebugAdapterExecutable', which internally
+            // uses 'child_process.spawn' in a non-shell environment.
+            // Manual quoting will cause the OS (especially Windows) to treat the quotes
+            // as part of the filename, leading to ENOENT.
+            // See regression reported in #1013 and analysis of #964.
 
             // "logToFile" is not handled directly by the adapter - instead, we need to pass
             // the corresponding CLI switch when spawning it.
diff --git a/src/test/unittest/adapter/factory.unit.test.ts b/src/test/unittest/adapter/factory.unit.test.ts
index 9c3a9e91..b68f7c25 100644
--- a/src/test/unittest/adapter/factory.unit.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/unittest/adapter/factory.unit.test.ts
@@ -304,28 +304,24 @@ suite('Debugging - Adapter Factory', () => {
 
         assert.deepStrictEqual(descriptor, debugExecutable);
     });
-    test('Add quotes to interpreter path with spaces (default adapter path)', async () => {
+    test('Should not add quotes to interpreter path with spaces (default adapter path)', async () => {
         const session = createSession({});
         const interpreterPathSpaces = 'path/to/python interpreter with spaces';
-        const interpreterPathSpacesQuoted = `"${interpreterPathSpaces}"`;
-        const debugExecutable = new DebugAdapterExecutable(interpreterPathSpacesQuoted, [debugAdapterPath]);
-
+        const debugExecutable = new DebugAdapterExecutable(interpreterPathSpaces, [debugAdapterPath]);
         getInterpreterDetailsStub.resolves({ path: [interpreterPathSpaces] });
         const interpreterSpacePath: PythonEnvironment = createInterpreter(interpreterPathSpaces, '3.7.4-test');
         // Add architecture for completeness.
         (interpreterSpacePath as any).architecture = Architecture.Unknown;
         resolveEnvironmentStub.withArgs(interpreterPathSpaces).resolves(interpreterSpacePath);
         const descriptor = await factory.createDebugAdapterDescriptor(session, nodeExecutable);
-
         assert.deepStrictEqual(descriptor, debugExecutable);
     });
 
-    test('Add quotes to interpreter path with spaces when debugAdapterPath is specified', async () => {
+    test('Should not add quotes to interpreter path with spaces when debugAdapterPath is specified', async () => {
         const customAdapterPath = 'custom/debug/adapter/customAdapterPath';
         const session = createSession({ debugAdapterPath: customAdapterPath });
         const interpreterPathSpaces = 'path/to/python interpreter with spaces';
-        const interpreterPathSpacesQuoted = `"${interpreterPathSpaces}"`;
-        const debugExecutable = new DebugAdapterExecutable(interpreterPathSpacesQuoted, [customAdapterPath]);
+        const debugExecutable = new DebugAdapterExecutable(interpreterPathSpaces, [customAdapterPath]);
 
         getInterpreterDetailsStub.resolves({ path: [interpreterPathSpaces] });
         const interpreterSpacePath: PythonEnvironment = createInterpreter(interpreterPathSpaces, '3.7.4-test');