diff --git a/rel/files/riak-admin b/rel/files/riak-admin
index 2f0d8f484..c52c885d5 100755
--- a/rel/files/riak-admin
+++ b/rel/files/riak-admin
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ The following commands modify users and security ACLs for Riak:
 }
 
 escape() {
-    echo -n "$1" | sed 's/"/\\"/g'
+    printf '%s' "$1" | sed 's/"/\\"/g'
 }
 
 btype_admin()