diff --git a/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch b/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch
index e2da982687a..d0c06be0adc 100755
--- a/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch
+++ b/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ ES_JVM_OPTIONS="$CONF_DIR"/jvm.options
 ES_JAVA_OPTS="`parse_jvm_options "$ES_JVM_OPTIONS"` $ES_JAVA_OPTS"
 
 # manual parsing to find out, if process should be detached
-if [ ! `echo $* | grep -E '(^-d |-d$| -d |--daemonize$|--daemonize )'` ]; then
+if ! echo $* | grep -E '(^-d |-d$| -d |--daemonize$|--daemonize )' > /dev/null; then
   exec \
     "$JAVA" \
     $ES_JAVA_OPTS \