diff --git a/django/db/backends/oracle/client.py b/django/db/backends/oracle/client.py
index 7e32ebef2f..372783aa97 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/oracle/client.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/oracle/client.py
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@ from django.conf import settings
 import os
 
 def runshell():
-    args = ''
-    args += settings.DATABASE_USER
+    dsn = settings.DATABASE_USER
     if settings.DATABASE_PASSWORD:
-        args += "/%s" % settings.DATABASE_PASSWORD
-    args += "@%s" % settings.DATABASE_NAME
-    os.execvp('sqlplus', args)
+        dsn += "/%s" % settings.DATABASE_PASSWORD
+    if settings.DATABASE_NAME:
+        dsn += "@%s" % settings.DATABASE_NAME
+    args = ["sqlplus", "-L", dsn]
+    os.execvp("sqlplus", args)