diff --git a/handlers/mysql b/handlers/mysql
index 569b0a206d21dc4b509539fd969c2ce6e9d181e3..8d59fa4b0cd1cb897b8199605930a604058adf6b 100644
--- a/handlers/mysql
+++ b/handlers/mysql
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ then
 	[ -d $vroot ] || fatal "vserver '$vsname' does not exist at '$vroot'"
 	# is it running ?
 	running=`$VSERVERINFO $vsname RUNNING`
-	[ $running = 1 ] || fatal "vserver $vsname is not running."
+	[ "$running" = "1" ] || fatal "vserver $vsname is not running."
 fi
 	
 # create backup dirs, the vroot variable will be empty if no vsname was specified
diff --git a/handlers/pgsql b/handlers/pgsql
index c17caf8a1fc41585e1763542cd7e38a67068c65b..dd1a2ea90b16b3a4d827de0feee26b500ef6ad3d 100644
--- a/handlers/pgsql
+++ b/handlers/pgsql
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ if [ $usevserver ]; then
     [ -d $vroot ] || fatal "vserver '$vsname' does not exist at '$vroot'"
     # is it running ?
     running=`$VSERVERINFO $vsname RUNNING`
-    if [ $running = 1 ]; then
+    if [ "$running" = "1" ]; then
 	if [ "$databases" == "all" ]; then
 	    [ -x "$vroot`$VSERVER $vsname exec which $PGSQLDUMPALL`" ] || \
 		fatal "Can't find $PGSQLDUMPALL in vserver $vsname."
diff --git a/handlers/svn b/handlers/svn
index 9a611c0f1233d90125c214a5090e02c20002693c..4dca225172cce1f6b30825221d0529c7fd8192e6 100644
--- a/handlers/svn
+++ b/handlers/svn
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ then
 	[ -d $vroot ] || fatal "vserver '$vsname' does not exist at '$vroot'"
         # is it running ?
 	running=`$VSERVERINFO $vsname RUNNING`
-	[ $running = 1 ] || fatal "vserver $vsname is not running."
+	[ "$running" = "1" ] || fatal "vserver $vsname is not running."
 fi
 
 cd $vroot$src
diff --git a/handlers/sys b/handlers/sys
index 8054b4a7ebb898b092381399235af2504b75466a..66f1595f12e8e932f414b45986cf830d730beb09 100755
--- a/handlers/sys
+++ b/handlers/sys
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ if [ "$packages" == "yes" ]; then
 		do
 			info "examining vserver: $vserver"
 			running=`$VSERVERINFO $vserver RUNNING`
-			if [ $running = 1 ]; then
+			if [ "$running" = "1" ]; then
 			    if [ ! -x "$VROOTDIR/$vserver`$VSERVER $vserver exec which dpkg`" ]; then
 				warning "can't find dpkg in vserver $vserver, skipping installed packages report."
 				nodpkg="$nodpkg|$vserver"