diff --git a/generate_environment_variables.py b/generate_environment_variables.py
index e3a7620f743ce6babe9bd3167efe9ad4b2148aa7..dbe317e3ea93960c38cb8793e6b365764463ef4f 100755
--- a/generate_environment_variables.py
+++ b/generate_environment_variables.py
@@ -142,6 +142,6 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
                 home = os.path.join(workspaces[0], 'share', 'maven')
         print(home)
     elif args.create_maven_settings:
-        print(MAVEN_HEADER + get_repositories_xml() + MAVEN_FOOTER)
+        print((MAVEN_HEADER + get_repositories_xml() + MAVEN_FOOTER).encode('string_escape'))
     else:
         print("Nothing to see here - please provide one of the valid command switches.")