diff --git a/awx/main/tasks/receptor.py b/awx/main/tasks/receptor.py
index 597c900eeb..121b5502d9 100644
--- a/awx/main/tasks/receptor.py
+++ b/awx/main/tasks/receptor.py
@@ -49,6 +49,70 @@ class ReceptorConnectionType(Enum):
     STREAMTLS = 2
 
 
+"""
+Translate receptorctl messages that come in over stdout into
+structured messages. Currently, these are error messages.
+"""
+
+
+class ReceptorErrorBase:
+    _MESSAGE = 'Receptor Error'
+
+    def __init__(self, node: str = 'N/A', state_name: str = 'N/A'):
+        self.node = node
+        self.state_name = state_name
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return f"{self.__class__.__name__} '{self._MESSAGE}' on node '{self.node}' with state '{self.state_name}'"
+
+
+class WorkUnitError(ReceptorErrorBase):
+    _MESSAGE = 'unknown work unit '
+
+    def __init__(self, work_unit_id: str, *args, **kwargs):
+        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.work_unit_id = work_unit_id
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return f"{super().__str__()} work unit id '{self.work_unit_id}'"
+
+
+class WorkUnitCancelError(WorkUnitError):
+    _MESSAGE = 'error cancelling remote unit:  unknown work unit '
+
+
+class WorkUnitResultsError(WorkUnitError):
+    _MESSAGE = 'Failed to get results: unknown work unit '
+
+
+class UnknownError(ReceptorErrorBase):
+    _MESSAGE = 'Unknown receptor ctl error'
+
+    def __init__(self, msg, *args, **kwargs):
+        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self._MESSAGE = msg
+
+
+class FuzzyError:
+    def __new__(self, e: RuntimeError, node: str, state_name: str):
+        """
+        At the time of writing this comment all of the sub-classes detection
+        is centralized in this parent class. It's like a Router().
+        Someone may find it better to push down the error detection logic into
+        each sub-class.
+        """
+        msg = e.args[0]
+
+        common_startswith = (WorkUnitCancelError, WorkUnitResultsError, WorkUnitError)
+
+        for klass in common_startswith:
+            if msg.startswith(klass._MESSAGE):
+                work_unit_id = msg[len(klass._MESSAGE) :]
+                return klass(work_unit_id, node=node, state_name=state_name)
+
+        return UnknownError(msg, node=node, state_name=state_name)
+
+
 def read_receptor_config():
     # for K8S deployments, getting a lock is necessary as another process
     # may be re-writing the config at this time
@@ -185,6 +249,7 @@ def run_until_complete(node, timing_data=None, **kwargs):
         timing_data['transmit_timing'] = run_start - transmit_start
     run_timing = 0.0
     stdout = ''
+    state_name = 'local var never set'
 
     try:
         resultfile = receptor_ctl.get_work_results(unit_id)
@@ -205,13 +270,33 @@ def run_until_complete(node, timing_data=None, **kwargs):
         stdout = resultfile.read()
         stdout = str(stdout, encoding='utf-8')
 
+    except RuntimeError as e:
+        receptor_e = FuzzyError(e, node, state_name)
+        if type(receptor_e) in (
+            WorkUnitError,
+            WorkUnitResultsError,
+        ):
+            logger.warning(f'While consuming job results: {receptor_e}')
+        else:
+            raise
     finally:
         if settings.RECEPTOR_RELEASE_WORK:
-            res = receptor_ctl.simple_command(f"work release {unit_id}")
-            if res != {'released': unit_id}:
-                logger.warning(f'Could not confirm release of receptor work unit id {unit_id} from {node}, data: {res}')
+            try:
+                res = receptor_ctl.simple_command(f"work release {unit_id}")
 
-        receptor_ctl.close()
+                if res != {'released': unit_id}:
+                    logger.warning(f'Could not confirm release of receptor work unit id {unit_id} from {node}, data: {res}')
+
+                receptor_ctl.close()
+            except RuntimeError as e:
+                receptor_e = FuzzyError(e, node, state_name)
+                if type(receptor_e) in (
+                    WorkUnitError,
+                    WorkUnitCancelError,
+                ):
+                    logger.warning(f"While releasing work: {receptor_e}")
+                else:
+                    logger.error(f"While releasing work: {receptor_e}")
 
     if state_name.lower() == 'failed':
         work_detail = status.get('Detail', '')
@@ -275,7 +360,7 @@ def _convert_args_to_cli(vargs):
     args = ['cleanup']
     for option in ('exclude_strings', 'remove_images'):
         if vargs.get(option):
-            args.append('--{}={}'.format(option.replace('_', '-'), ' '.join(vargs.get(option))))
+            args.append('--{}="{}"'.format(option.replace('_', '-'), ' '.join(vargs.get(option))))
     for option in ('file_pattern', 'image_prune', 'process_isolation_executable', 'grace_period'):
         if vargs.get(option) is True:
             args.append('--{}'.format(option.replace('_', '-')))
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_receptor.py b/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_receptor.py
index 0a7e182070..b077e8a5db 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_receptor.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_receptor.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ from awx.main.tasks.receptor import _convert_args_to_cli
 
 def test_file_cleanup_scenario():
     args = _convert_args_to_cli({'exclude_strings': ['awx_423_', 'awx_582_'], 'file_pattern': '/tmp/awx_*_*'})
-    assert ' '.join(args) == 'cleanup --exclude-strings=awx_423_ awx_582_ --file-pattern=/tmp/awx_*_*'
+    assert ' '.join(args) == 'cleanup --exclude-strings="awx_423_ awx_582_" --file-pattern=/tmp/awx_*_*'
 
 
 def test_image_cleanup_scenario():
@@ -17,5 +17,5 @@ def test_image_cleanup_scenario():
         }
     )
     assert (
-        ' '.join(args) == 'cleanup --remove-images=quay.invalid/foo/bar:latest quay.invalid/foo/bar:devel --image-prune --process-isolation-executable=podman'
+        ' '.join(args) == 'cleanup --remove-images="quay.invalid/foo/bar:latest quay.invalid/foo/bar:devel" --image-prune --process-isolation-executable=podman'
     )