diff --git a/applets/pbot-vm/guest/lib/Languages/_c_base.pm b/applets/pbot-vm/guest/lib/Languages/_c_base.pm
index d0ffb71c..c6ddf4c8 100755
--- a/applets/pbot-vm/guest/lib/Languages/_c_base.pm
+++ b/applets/pbot-vm/guest/lib/Languages/_c_base.pm
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ use strict;
 package _c_base;
 use parent '_default';
 
+use SplitLine;
+
 sub preprocess {
     my $self = shift;
 
@@ -18,7 +20,7 @@ sub preprocess {
     print $fh "$input\n";
     close $fh;
 
-    my @cmd = $self->split_line($self->{cmdline}, strip_quotes => 1, preserve_escapes => 0);
+    my @cmd = split_line($self->{cmdline}, strip_quotes => 1, preserve_escapes => 0);
 
     if ($self->{code} =~ m/print_last_statement\(.*\);$/m) {
         # remove print_last_statement wrapper in order to get warnings/errors from last statement line
@@ -85,7 +87,7 @@ sub postprocess {
 
     my $ulimits = "ulimit -f 2000; ulimit -t 8; ulimit -u 200";
 
-    my @args = $self->split_line($self->{arguments}, strip_quotes => 1, preserve_escapes => 1);
+    my @args = split_line($self->{arguments}, strip_quotes => 1, preserve_escapes => 1);
 
     my $quoted_args = '';
 
diff --git a/applets/pbot-vm/guest/lib/Languages/_default.pm b/applets/pbot-vm/guest/lib/Languages/_default.pm
index 46d9eae8..1c834f32 100755
--- a/applets/pbot-vm/guest/lib/Languages/_default.pm
+++ b/applets/pbot-vm/guest/lib/Languages/_default.pm
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ use strict;
 use IPC::Run qw/run timeout/;
 use Encode;
 
+use SplitLine;
+
 use Data::Dumper;
 $Data::Dumper::Terse    = 1;
 $Data::Dumper::Sortkeys = 1;
@@ -101,119 +103,10 @@ sub execute {
     return ($exitval, $stdout, $stderr);
 }
 
-# splits line into arguments separated by unquoted whitespace.
-# handles unbalanced quotes by treating them as part of the
-# argument they were found within.
-sub split_line {
-    my ($self, $line, %opts) = @_;
-
-    my %default_opts = (
-        strip_quotes => 0,
-        keep_spaces => 0,
-        preserve_escapes => 1,
-    );
-
-    %opts = (%default_opts, %opts);
-
-    my @chars = split //, $line;
-
-    my @args;
-    my $escaped = 0;
-    my $quote;
-    my $token = '';
-    my $ch = ' ';
-    my $last_ch;
-    my $next_ch;
-    my $i = 0;
-    my $pos;
-    my $ignore_quote = 0;
-    my $spaces = 0;
-
-    while (1) {
-        $last_ch = $ch;
-
-        if ($i >= @chars) {
-            if (defined $quote) {
-                # reached end, but unbalanced quote... reset to beginning of quote and ignore it
-                $i = $pos;
-                $ignore_quote = 1;
-                $quote = undef;
-                $last_ch = ' ';
-                $token = '';
-            } else {
-                # add final token and exit
-                push @args, $token if length $token;
-                last;
-            }
-        }
-
-        $ch = $chars[$i++];
-        $next_ch = $chars[$i];
-
-        $spaces = 0 if $ch ne ' ';
-
-        if ($escaped) {
-            if ($opts{preserve_escapes}) {
-                $token .= "\\$ch";
-            } else {
-                $token .= $ch;
-            }
-            $escaped = 0;
-            next;
-        }
-
-        if ($ch eq '\\') {
-            $escaped = 1;
-            next;
-        }
-
-        if (defined $quote) {
-            if ($ch eq $quote) {
-                # closing quote
-                $token .= $ch unless $opts{strip_quotes};
-                $quote = undef;
-            } else {
-                # still within quoted argument
-                $token .= $ch;
-            }
-            next;
-        }
-
-        if (not defined $quote and ($ch eq "'" or $ch eq '"')) {
-            if ($ignore_quote) {
-                # treat unbalanced quote as part of this argument
-                $token .= $ch;
-                $ignore_quote = 0;
-            } else {
-                # begin potential quoted argument
-                $pos = $i - 1;
-                $quote = $ch;
-                $token .= $ch unless $opts{strip_quotes};
-            }
-            next;
-        }
-
-        if ($ch eq ' ') {
-            if (++$spaces > 1 and $opts{keep_spaces}) {
-                $token .= $ch;
-                next;
-            } else {
-                push @args, $token if length $token;
-                $token = '';
-                next;
-            }
-        }
-
-        $token .= $ch;
-    }
-
-    return @args;
-}
-
 sub quote_args {
     my ($self, $text) = @_;
 
-    my @args = $self->split_line($text, strip_quotes => 1, preserve_escapes => 1);
+    my @args = split_line($text, strip_quotes => 1, preserve_escapes => 1);
 
     my $quoted = '';
 
diff --git a/applets/pbot-vm/guest/lib/SplitLine.pm b/applets/pbot-vm/guest/lib/SplitLine.pm
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..72ab6d1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/applets/pbot-vm/guest/lib/SplitLine.pm
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env perl
+
+package SplitLine;
+
+use 5.020;
+
+use warnings;
+use strict;
+
+use feature 'signatures';
+no warnings 'experimental::signatures';
+
+use parent qw(Exporter);
+our @EXPORT = qw(split_line);
+
+# splits line into arguments separated by unquoted whitespace.
+# handles unbalanced quotes by treating them as part of the
+# argument they were found within.
+sub split_line ($line, %opts) {
+    my %default_opts = (
+        strip_quotes => 0,
+        keep_spaces => 0,
+        preserve_escapes => 1,
+    );
+
+    %opts = (%default_opts, %opts);
+
+    my @chars = split //, $line;
+
+    my @args;
+    my $escaped = 0;
+    my $quote;
+    my $token = '';
+    my $last_token = '';
+    my $ch = ' ';
+    my $i = 0;
+    my $pos = 0;
+    my $ignore_quote = 0;
+    my $spaces = 0;
+
+    while (1) {
+        if ($i >= @chars) {
+            if (defined $quote) {
+                # reached end, but unbalanced quote... reset to beginning of quote and ignore it
+                $i = $pos;
+                $ignore_quote = 1;
+                $quote = undef;
+                $token = $last_token;
+            } else {
+                # add final token and exit
+                push @args, $token if length $token;
+                last;
+            }
+        }
+
+        $ch = $chars[$i++];
+
+        my $dquote = $quote // 'undef';
+        $spaces = 0 if $ch ne ' ';
+
+        if ($escaped) {
+            if ($opts{preserve_escapes}) {
+                $token .= "\\$ch";
+            } else {
+                $token .= $ch;
+            }
+            $escaped = 0;
+            next;
+        }
+
+        if ($ch eq '\\') {
+            $escaped = 1;
+            next;
+        }
+
+        if (defined $quote) {
+            if ($ch eq $quote) {
+                # closing quote
+                $token .= $ch unless $opts{strip_quotes};
+                $quote = undef;
+            } else {
+                # still within quoted argument
+                $token .= $ch;
+            }
+            next;
+        }
+
+        if (not defined $quote and ($ch eq "'" or $ch eq '"')) {
+            if ($ignore_quote) {
+                # treat unbalanced quote as part of this argument
+                $token .= $ch;
+                $ignore_quote = 0;
+            } else {
+                # begin potential quoted argument
+                $pos = $i - 1;
+                $quote = $ch;
+                $last_token = $token;
+                $token .= $ch unless $opts{strip_quotes};
+            }
+            next;
+        }
+
+        if ($ch eq ' ') {
+            if (++$spaces > 1 and $opts{keep_spaces}) {
+                $token .= $ch;
+                next;
+            } else {
+                push @args, $token if length $token;
+                $token = '';
+                next;
+            }
+        }
+
+        $token .= $ch;
+    }
+
+    return @args;
+}
+
+1;
diff --git a/applets/pbot-vm/host/lib/SplitLine.pm b/applets/pbot-vm/host/lib/SplitLine.pm
index f866da76..72ab6d1d 100644
--- a/applets/pbot-vm/host/lib/SplitLine.pm
+++ b/applets/pbot-vm/host/lib/SplitLine.pm
@@ -33,23 +33,18 @@ sub split_line ($line, %opts) {
     my $token = '';
     my $last_token = '';
     my $ch = ' ';
-    my $last_ch;
-    my $next_ch;
     my $i = 0;
     my $pos = 0;
     my $ignore_quote = 0;
     my $spaces = 0;
 
     while (1) {
-        $last_ch = $ch;
-
         if ($i >= @chars) {
             if (defined $quote) {
                 # reached end, but unbalanced quote... reset to beginning of quote and ignore it
                 $i = $pos;
                 $ignore_quote = 1;
                 $quote = undef;
-                $last_ch = ' ';
                 $token = $last_token;
             } else {
                 # add final token and exit
@@ -59,7 +54,6 @@ sub split_line ($line, %opts) {
         }
 
         $ch = $chars[$i++];
-        $next_ch = $chars[$i];
 
         my $dquote = $quote // 'undef';
         $spaces = 0 if $ch ne ' ';
diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core/Interpreter.pm b/lib/PBot/Core/Interpreter.pm
index 3298bca5..ea2b5b76 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core/Interpreter.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core/Interpreter.pm
@@ -1203,15 +1203,12 @@ sub split_line($self, $line, %opts) {
     my $token      = '';
     my $last_token = '';
     my $ch         = ' ';
-    my $last_ch;
-    my $next_ch;
     my $i = 0;
     my $pos;
     my $ignore_quote = 0;
     my $spaces       = 0;
 
     while (1) {
-        $last_ch = $ch;
 
         if ($i >= @chars) {
             if (defined $quote) {
@@ -1219,7 +1216,6 @@ sub split_line($self, $line, %opts) {
                 $i            = $pos;
                 $ignore_quote = 1;
                 $quote        = undef;
-                $last_ch      = ' ';
                 $token        = $last_token;
             } else {
                 # add final token and exit
@@ -1230,7 +1226,6 @@ sub split_line($self, $line, %opts) {
         }
 
         $ch      = $chars[$i++];
-        $next_ch = $chars[$i];
 
         $spaces = 0 if $ch ne ' ';
 
diff --git a/lib/PBot/VERSION.pm b/lib/PBot/VERSION.pm
index d9ff5356..7b81a638 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/VERSION.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/VERSION.pm
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ use PBot::Imports;
 # These are set by the /misc/update_version script
 use constant {
     BUILD_NAME     => "PBot",
-    BUILD_REVISION => 4815,
+    BUILD_REVISION => 4816,
     BUILD_DATE     => "2024-10-29",
 };