diff --git a/starttde b/starttde
index 8a66c7455..11db36dbe 100644
--- a/starttde
+++ b/starttde
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ unset DYLD_FORCE_FLAT_NAMESPACE
 # Check whether prelinking is enabled. If so, exporting TDE_IS_PRELINKED improves
 # loading TDE. The $TDE_IS_PRELINKED variable might already be set on some systems
 # through /etc/profile.d, so first check whether the variable exists.
-if [ $TDE_IS_PRELINKED = "" ]; then
+if [ "$TDE_IS_PRELINKED" = "" ]; then
   if [ -r /etc/default/prelink ]; then
     . /etc/default/prelink
     if [ "$PRELINKING" == "yes" ]; then