diff --git a/handlers/rsync.in b/handlers/rsync.in
index c639538dae450d3378c9f98f16043837e0340a0a..eee3545b0c82c12458cf12441f50fc34e396c35f 100644
--- a/handlers/rsync.in
+++ b/handlers/rsync.in
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ function rotate_short {
   fi
 
   # Cleanup orphaned metadata
-  for file in `ls $metadata`; do
+  for file in "$metadata/"*; do
     if [ ! -d "`dirname $folder`/$file" ]; then
       debug "removing orphaned metadata $file"
       rm -rf $metadata/$file
@@ -503,7 +503,7 @@ function rotate_long {
   done
 
   # Cleanup orphaned metadata
-  for file in `ls $backuproot/metadata`; do
+  for file in "$backuproot/metadata/"*; do
     if [ ! -d "$backuproot/$file" ]; then
       debug "removing orphaned metadata $file"
       rm -rf $backuproot/metadata/$file