diff --git a/src/promptflow/promptflow/_cli/_params.py b/src/promptflow/promptflow/_cli/_params.py
index 7e1677b6787..128c5da8384 100644
--- a/src/promptflow/promptflow/_cli/_params.py
+++ b/src/promptflow/promptflow/_cli/_params.py
@@ -11,11 +11,13 @@ def __call__(self, parser, namespace, values, option_string=None):
         super(AppendToDictAction, self).__call__(parser, namespace, action, option_string)
 
     def get_action(self, values, option_string):  # pylint: disable=no-self-use
+        from promptflow._sdk._utils import strip_quotation
+
         kwargs = {}
         for item in values:
             try:
-                key, value = item.split("=", 1)
-                kwargs[key] = value
+                key, value = strip_quotation(item).split("=", 1)
+                kwargs[key] = strip_quotation(value)
             except ValueError:
                 raise Exception("Usage error: {} KEY=VALUE [KEY=VALUE ...]".format(option_string))
         return kwargs
diff --git a/src/promptflow/promptflow/_sdk/_utils.py b/src/promptflow/promptflow/_sdk/_utils.py
index c72c0ca7046..c35d2fa75a8 100644
--- a/src/promptflow/promptflow/_sdk/_utils.py
+++ b/src/promptflow/promptflow/_sdk/_utils.py
@@ -239,9 +239,22 @@ def load_from_dict(schema: Any, data: Dict, context: Dict, additional_message: s
         raise ValidationError(decorate_validation_error(schema, pretty_error, additional_message))
 
 
+def strip_quotation(value):
+    """
+    To avoid escaping chars in command args, args will be surrounded in quotas.
+    Need to remove the pair of quotation first.
+    """
+    if value.startswith('"') and value.endswith('"'):
+        return value[1:-1]
+    elif value.startswith("'") and value.endswith("'"):
+        return value[1:-1]
+    else:
+        return value
+
+
 def parse_variant(variant: str) -> Tuple[str, str]:
     variant_regex = r"\${([^.]+).([^}]+)}"
-    match = re.match(variant_regex, variant)
+    match = re.match(variant_regex, strip_quotation(variant))
     if match:
         return match.group(1), match.group(2)
     else:
diff --git a/src/promptflow/tests/sdk_cli_test/e2etests/test_cli.py b/src/promptflow/tests/sdk_cli_test/e2etests/test_cli.py
index 6851fcddded..75100ab58d0 100644
--- a/src/promptflow/tests/sdk_cli_test/e2etests/test_cli.py
+++ b/src/promptflow/tests/sdk_cli_test/e2etests/test_cli.py
@@ -86,6 +86,8 @@ def test_basic_flow_run_batch_and_eval(self) -> None:
             )
         assert "Completed" in f.getvalue()
 
+        # Check the CLI works correctly when the parameter is surrounded by quotation, as below shown:
+        # --param "key=value" key="value"
         f = io.StringIO()
         with contextlib.redirect_stdout(f):
             run_pf_command(
@@ -94,8 +96,8 @@ def test_basic_flow_run_batch_and_eval(self) -> None:
                 "--flow",
                 f"{FLOWS_DIR}/classification_accuracy_evaluation",
                 "--column-mapping",
-                "groundtruth=${data.answer}",
-                "prediction=${run.outputs.category}",
+                "'groundtruth=${data.answer}'",
+                "prediction='${run.outputs.category}'",
                 "variant_id=${data.variant_id}",
                 "--data",
                 f"{DATAS_DIR}/webClassification3.jsonl",
@@ -309,7 +311,7 @@ def test_pf_flow_with_variant(self, capsys):
                 "answer=Channel",
                 "evidence=Url",
                 "--variant",
-                "${summarize_text_content.variant_1}",
+                "'${summarize_text_content.variant_1}'",
             )
             output_path = Path(temp_dir) / ".promptflow" / "flow-summarize_text_content-variant_1.output.json"
             assert output_path.exists()
diff --git a/src/promptflow/tests/sdk_cli_test/unittests/test_utils.py b/src/promptflow/tests/sdk_cli_test/unittests/test_utils.py
index 352c80faa10..47654bf50e4 100644
--- a/src/promptflow/tests/sdk_cli_test/unittests/test_utils.py
+++ b/src/promptflow/tests/sdk_cli_test/unittests/test_utils.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 # ---------------------------------------------------------
 
+import argparse
 import os
 import shutil
 import tempfile
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@
     _calculate_column_widths,
     list_of_dict_to_nested_dict,
 )
+from promptflow._cli._params import AppendToDictAction
 from promptflow._sdk._errors import GenerateFlowToolsJsonError
 from promptflow._sdk._utils import (
     decrypt_secret_value,
@@ -123,6 +125,20 @@ def test_list_of_dict_to_nested_dict(self):
         result = list_of_dict_to_nested_dict(test_list)
         assert result == {"node1": {"connection": "a", "deploy_name": "b"}}
 
+    def test_append_to_dict_action(self):
+        parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog="test_dict_action")
+        parser.add_argument("--dict", action=AppendToDictAction, nargs="+")
+        args = ["--dict", "key1=val1", "\'key2=val2\'", "\"key3=val3\"", "key4=\'val4\'", "key5=\"val5'"]
+        args = parser.parse_args(args)
+        expect_dict = {
+            "key1": "val1",
+            "key2": "val2",
+            "key3": "val3",
+            "key4": "val4",
+            "key5": "\"val5'",
+        }
+        assert args.dict[0] == expect_dict
+
     def test_build_sorted_column_widths_tuple_list(self) -> None:
         columns = ["col1", "col2", "col3"]
         values1 = {"col1": 1, "col2": 4, "col3": 3}