diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index b550885257..98c183951e 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 2.2.9
+ * cqlsh COPY: unprotected pk values before converting them if not using prepared statements (CASSANDRA-12863)
  * Fix Util.spinAssertEquals (CASSANDRA-12283)
  * Fix potential NPE for compactionstats (CASSANDRA-12462)
  * Prepare legacy authenticate statement if credentials table initialised after node startup (CASSANDRA-12813)
diff --git a/pylib/cqlshlib/copyutil.py b/pylib/cqlshlib/copyutil.py
index aee2920181..0c11636991 100644
--- a/pylib/cqlshlib/copyutil.py
+++ b/pylib/cqlshlib/copyutil.py
@@ -1778,15 +1778,18 @@ class ImportConversion(object):
                                                          where_clause)
         return parent.session.prepare(select_query)
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def unprotect(v):
+        if v is not None:
+            return CqlRuleSet.dequote_value(v)
+
     def _get_converter(self, cql_type):
         """
         Return a function that converts a string into a value the can be passed
         into BoundStatement.bind() for the given cql type. See cassandra.cqltypes
         for more details.
         """
-        def unprotect(v):
-            if v is not None:
-                return CqlRuleSet.dequote_value(v)
+        unprotect = self.unprotect
 
         def convert(t, v):
             v = unprotect(v)
@@ -2028,7 +2031,7 @@ class ImportConversion(object):
             return self.cqltypes[n].serialize(v, self.proto_version)
 
         def serialize_value_not_prepared(n, v):
-            return self.cqltypes[n].serialize(self.converters[n](v), self.proto_version)
+            return self.cqltypes[n].serialize(self.converters[n](self.unprotect(v)), self.proto_version)
 
         partition_key_indexes = self.partition_key_indexes
         serialize = serialize_value_prepared if self.use_prepared_statements else serialize_value_not_prepared