diff --git a/libs/spandsp/configure.gnu b/libs/spandsp/configure.gnu
index b2c5d1bd26..98288b430c 100755
--- a/libs/spandsp/configure.gnu
+++ b/libs/spandsp/configure.gnu
@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-./configure "`echo $@ | sed 's| -Xc | |'`" --disable-shared --with-pic --enable-builtin-tiff
+ARGS='$@'
+MYARGS=`echo $ARGS | sed 's| -Xc | |'`
+./configure "$MYARGS" --disable-shared --with-pic --enable-builtin-tiff