diff --git a/eclass/cmake-multilib.eclass b/eclass/cmake-multilib.eclass
index c8fad94ac0a9f..826f0ffcd967b 100644
--- a/eclass/cmake-multilib.eclass
+++ b/eclass/cmake-multilib.eclass
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 # @DEPRECATED: none
 # @DESCRIPTION:
 # Only "cmake" is supported.
-: ${CMAKE_ECLASS:=cmake}
+: "${CMAKE_ECLASS:=cmake}"
 
 case ${EAPI} in
 	7|8)