diff --git a/docker/scripts/app-init.sh b/docker/scripts/app-init.sh
index 29fe9a913..b96b88f1f 100755
--- a/docker/scripts/app-init.sh
+++ b/docker/scripts/app-init.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 WORKSPACEDIR="/workspace"
 
 # Handle Linux host mounting the workspace dir as root
-if [ ! -O "$WORKSPACEDIR/ietf" ]; then
+if [ ! -O "${WORKSPACEDIR}/ietf" ]; then
     sudo chown -R dev:dev $WORKSPACEDIR
 fi