diff --git a/newapkbuild.in b/newapkbuild.in
index 8ef2764..2f438ea 100644
--- a/newapkbuild.in
+++ b/newapkbuild.in
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ build_meson() {
 		--localstatedir=/var \\
 		--buildtype=plain \\
 		. output
-	meson compile ${JOBS:+-j ${JOBS}} -C output
+	meson compile \${JOBS:+-j \${JOBS}} -C output
 __EOF__
 }