diff --git a/mxservicectl b/mxservicectl
index 65d5bd4..5541f25 100755
--- a/mxservicectl
+++ b/mxservicectl
@@ -92,11 +92,11 @@ function mxsrv_stop() {
 
 
 function create_run_dir_if_not_exists() {
-    if [ ! -d $rundir ] ; then
+    if [ ! -d ${RUNDIR} ] ; then
         mkdir -m 0700 ${RUNDIR}
     fi
 
-    if [ ! -O $rundir ] ; then
+    if [ ! -O ${RUNDIR} ] ; then
         echo >&2 "${RUNDIR}: wrong owner: possible hack attempt? exiting.."
         exit 1
     fi