diff --git a/libmamba/src/api/install.cpp b/libmamba/src/api/install.cpp
index 8b6e0ff20..75aa17c05 100644
--- a/libmamba/src/api/install.cpp
+++ b/libmamba/src/api/install.cpp
@@ -28,15 +28,17 @@ namespace mamba
 {
     namespace
     {
-        tl::expected<std::string, std::runtime_error> get_other_pkg_mgr_install_instructions(
-            const std::string& name, const std::string& target_prefix)
+        using command_args = std::vector<std::string>;
+
+        tl::expected<command_args, std::runtime_error> get_other_pkg_mgr_install_instructions(
+            const std::string& name, const std::string& target_prefix, fs::path spec_file)
         {
             const auto get_python_path
                 = [&] { return env::which("python", get_path_dirs(target_prefix)).u8string(); };
 
-            const std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string> other_pkg_mgr_install_instructions{
+            const std::unordered_map<std::string, command_args> other_pkg_mgr_install_instructions{
                 { "pip",
-                  fmt::format("{} {}", get_python_path(), "-m pip install -r {0} --no-input") }
+                  { get_python_path(), "-m", "pip", "install", "-r", spec_file, "--no-input" } }
             };
 
             auto found_it = other_pkg_mgr_install_instructions.find(name);
@@ -90,26 +92,25 @@ namespace mamba
 
         const auto& ctx = Context::instance();
 
-        std::string install_instructions = [&]
+        TemporaryFile specs;
+        {
+            std::ofstream specs_f = open_ofstream(specs.path());
+            for (auto& d : deps)
+                specs_f << d.c_str() << '\n';
+        }
+
+        command_args install_instructions = [&]
         {
             const auto maybe_instructions
-                = get_other_pkg_mgr_install_instructions(pkg_mgr, ctx.target_prefix);
+                = get_other_pkg_mgr_install_instructions(pkg_mgr, ctx.target_prefix, specs.path());
             if (maybe_instructions)
                 return maybe_instructions.value();
             else
                 throw maybe_instructions.error();
         }();
 
-        TemporaryFile specs;
-        std::ofstream specs_f = open_ofstream(specs.path());
-        for (auto& d : deps)
-            specs_f << d.c_str() << '\n';
-        specs_f.close();
-
-        replace_all(install_instructions, "{0}", specs.path());
-
-        std::vector<std::string> install_args = split(install_instructions, " ");
-        auto [wrapped_command, tmpfile] = prepare_wrapped_call(ctx.target_prefix, install_args);
+        auto [wrapped_command, tmpfile]
+            = prepare_wrapped_call(ctx.target_prefix, install_instructions);
 
         reproc::options options;
         options.redirect.parent = true;
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ namespace mamba
         Console::stream() << "\n"
                           << termcolor::cyan << "Installing " << pkg_mgr
                           << " packages: " << join(", ", deps) << termcolor::reset;
-        LOG_INFO << "Calling: " << join(" ", install_args);
+        LOG_INFO << "Calling: " << join(" ", install_instructions);
 
         auto [status, ec] = reproc::run(wrapped_command, options);
         assert_reproc_success(options, status, ec);
diff --git a/micromamba/tests/env-requires-pip-install-with-spaces.yaml b/micromamba/tests/env-requires-pip-install-with-spaces.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2a413e38a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/micromamba/tests/env-requires-pip-install-with-spaces.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+name: test env with spaces
+channels:
+- conda-forge
+dependencies:
+- python=3.9
+- pip
+- pip:
+  - pydantic
diff --git a/micromamba/tests/env-requires-pip-install.yaml b/micromamba/tests/env-requires-pip-install.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eafc353d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/micromamba/tests/env-requires-pip-install.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+name: test_env
+channels:
+- conda-forge
+dependencies:
+- python=3.9
+- pip
+- pip:
+  - pydantic
diff --git a/micromamba/tests/test_create.py b/micromamba/tests/test_create.py
index db4c7840b..997c35d17 100644
--- a/micromamba/tests/test_create.py
+++ b/micromamba/tests/test_create.py
@@ -13,6 +13,21 @@ from .helpers import *
 
 source_dir_path = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
 
+this_source_file_dir_path = Path(__file__).parent.resolve()
+
+test_env_requires_pip_install_path = os.path.join(
+    this_source_file_dir_path, "env-requires-pip-install.yaml"
+)
+
+test_env_requires_pip_install_path_with_whitespaces = os.path.join(
+    this_source_file_dir_path, "env-requires-pip-install-with-spaces.yaml"
+)
+
+test_envs = [
+    test_env_requires_pip_install_path,
+    test_env_requires_pip_install_path_with_whitespaces,
+]
+
 
 class TestCreate:
 
@@ -641,3 +656,15 @@ class TestCreate:
         create(*cmd)
         assert (site_packages / pyc_fn).exists()
         assert pyc_fn.name in six_meta
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("env_file", test_envs)
+    def test_requires_pip_install(self, env_file):
+        prefix = Path(TestCreate.prefix)
+        cmd = ["-p", f"{prefix}", "-f", env_file]
+        create(*cmd)
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("env_file", test_envs)
+    def test_requires_pip_install_prefix_spaces(self, env_file):
+        prefix = Path(f"{TestCreate.prefix} with space")
+        cmd = ["-p", f"{prefix}", "-f", env_file]
+        create(*cmd)