diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 804b2e25..20854b13 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ check_for_application ()
 {
 	for PROG in "$@"
 	do
-		if ! which "$PROG" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		which "$PROG" >/dev/null 2>&1
+		if test $? -ne 0; then
 			cat >&2 <<EOF
 WARNING: \`$PROG' not found!
     Please make sure that \`$PROG' is installed and is in one of the
diff --git a/version-gen.sh b/version-gen.sh
index 28ad3b28..4d1f2ed3 100755
--- a/version-gen.sh
+++ b/version-gen.sh
@@ -2,13 +2,12 @@
 
 DEFAULT_VERSION="4.6.3.git"
 
-VERSION="$( git describe 2> /dev/null | sed -e 's/^collectd-//' )"
+VERSION="`git describe 2> /dev/null | sed -e 's/^collectd-//'`"
 
 if test -z "$VERSION"; then
 	VERSION="$DEFAULT_VERSION"
 fi
 
-VERSION=$( echo "$VERSION" | sed -e 's/-/./g' )
-
-echo -n $VERSION
+VERSION="`echo \"$VERSION\" | sed -e 's/-/./g'`"
 
+echo -n "$VERSION"