diff --git a/misc/build.func b/misc/build.func
index d9929affe..269a87d3c 100644
--- a/misc/build.func
+++ b/misc/build.func
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@ find_host_ssh_keys() {
       /^[[:space:]]*#/ {next}
       /^[[:space:]]*$/ {next}
       {print}
-    ' | grep -E -c '"$re"' || true)
+    ' | grep -E -c "$re" || true)
 
     if ((c > 0)); then
       files+=("$f")