diff --git a/ci/test/03_test_script.sh b/ci/test/03_test_script.sh
index 71d9ad7f72..74cb517380 100755
--- a/ci/test/03_test_script.sh
+++ b/ci/test/03_test_script.sh
@@ -160,8 +160,9 @@ if [ "$RUN_UNIT_TESTS_SEQUENTIAL" = "true" ]; then
 fi
 
 if [ "$RUN_FUNCTIONAL_TESTS" = "true" ]; then
-  # shellcheck disable=SC2086
-  LD_LIBRARY_PATH="${DEPENDS_DIR}/${HOST}/lib" test/functional/test_runner.py --ci "${MAKEJOBS}" --tmpdirprefix "${BASE_SCRATCH_DIR}"/test_runner/ --ansi --combinedlogslen=99999999 --timeout-factor="${TEST_RUNNER_TIMEOUT_FACTOR}" ${TEST_RUNNER_EXTRA} --quiet --failfast
+  # parses TEST_RUNNER_EXTRA as an array which allows for multiple arguments such as TEST_RUNNER_EXTRA='--exclude "rpc_bind.py --ipv6"'
+  eval "TEST_RUNNER_EXTRA=($TEST_RUNNER_EXTRA)"
+  LD_LIBRARY_PATH="${DEPENDS_DIR}/${HOST}/lib" test/functional/test_runner.py --ci "${MAKEJOBS}" --tmpdirprefix "${BASE_SCRATCH_DIR}"/test_runner/ --ansi --combinedlogslen=99999999 --timeout-factor="${TEST_RUNNER_TIMEOUT_FACTOR}" "${TEST_RUNNER_EXTRA[@]}" --quiet --failfast
 fi
 
 if [ "${RUN_TIDY}" = "true" ]; then