diff --git a/CI/before_script.msvc.sh b/CI/before_script.msvc.sh
index deeadb9e8..524bd1241 100644
--- a/CI/before_script.msvc.sh
+++ b/CI/before_script.msvc.sh
@@ -957,7 +957,7 @@ fi
 	echo
 #fi
 
-if ! [ -z $ACTIVATE_MSVC ]; then
+if [ -n "$ACTIVATE_MSVC" ]; then
 	echo -n "- Activating MSVC in the current shell... "
 	command -v vswhere >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "Error: vswhere is not on the path."; wrappedExit 1; }
 
@@ -1010,7 +1010,7 @@ fi
 echo "Script completed successfully."
 echo "You now have an OpenMW build system at $(unixPathAsWindows "$(pwd)")"
 
-if [ -n $ACTIVATE_MSVC ]; then
+if [ -n "$ACTIVATE_MSVC" ]; then
 	echo
 	echo "Note: you must manually activate MSVC for the shell in which you want to do the build."
 	echo