diff --git a/scripts/make_binary_distribution.sh b/scripts/make_binary_distribution.sh
index 1f28b8e4538db49aa424da4b15f5d924a69ac979..d273e67ec0105142e0949ce80b1a39001d071cc7 100644
--- a/scripts/make_binary_distribution.sh
+++ b/scripts/make_binary_distribution.sh
@@ -315,8 +315,8 @@ system=`echo $system | sed -e 's/solaris2.\([0-9]*\)/solaris\1/g'`
 system=`echo $system | sed -e 's/sco3.2v\(.*\)/openserver\1/g'`
 
 # Use the override --machine if present
-if [ $MACHINE != "" ] ; then
-  machine= $MACHINE
+if [ -n $MACHINE ] ; then
+  machine=$MACHINE
 fi
 
 # Change the distribution to a long descriptive name