diff --git a/minecraft-server/start-finalSetup04ServerProperties b/minecraft-server/start-finalSetup04ServerProperties
index cd32783d..e07aa0bc 100755
--- a/minecraft-server/start-finalSetup04ServerProperties
+++ b/minecraft-server/start-finalSetup04ServerProperties
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ if [ ! -e $SERVER_PROPERTIES ]; then
 
   # If not provided, generate a reasonable default message-of-the-day,
   # which shows up in the server listing in the client
-  if [ -z $MOTD ]; then
+  if [ -z "$MOTD" ]; then
     # snapshot is the odd case where we have to look at version to identify that label
     if [[ ${ORIGINAL_TYPE} == "VANILLA" && ${VERSION} == "SNAPSHOT" ]]; then
       label=SNAPSHOT