diff --git a/artemis-cli/src/main/resources/org/apache/activemq/artemis/cli/commands/bin/artemis b/artemis-cli/src/main/resources/org/apache/activemq/artemis/cli/commands/bin/artemis
index 133f69aaae..2c717fd3d1 100755
--- a/artemis-cli/src/main/resources/org/apache/activemq/artemis/cli/commands/bin/artemis
+++ b/artemis-cli/src/main/resources/org/apache/activemq/artemis/cli/commands/bin/artemis
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ if $cygwin ; then
 fi
 
 # Empty JAVA_ARGS unless the command is 'run' or 'data'. See https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/ARTEMIS-318.
-if [ $1 != "run" -a $1 != "data" ]; then
+if [ "$1" != "run" -a "$1" != "data" ]; then
   JAVA_ARGS=""
 fi