diff --git a/source/lmp/lmp_version.sh b/source/lmp/lmp_version.sh
index 3f769cf3a3..99c1c5552e 100755
--- a/source/lmp/lmp_version.sh
+++ b/source/lmp/lmp_version.sh
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@ version_line=$(grep LAMMPS_VERSION ../version.h)
 tmp=${version_line#*\"} # remove prefix ending in "
 version=${tmp%\"*}      # remove suffix starting with "
 # string to int
-date --date="$(printf $version)" +"%Y%m%d"
+date --date="$(printf "$version")" +"%Y%m%d"