diff --git a/usr/local/share/bastille/common.sh b/usr/local/share/bastille/common.sh
index ece20d74..680a1cef 100644
--- a/usr/local/share/bastille/common.sh
+++ b/usr/local/share/bastille/common.sh
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ get_epair_count() {
         local bastille_jailsdir="$(sysrc -f "${_config}" -n bastille_jailsdir)"
         local _epair_list="$(printf '%s\n' "$( (grep -Eos '(e[0-9]+b|bastille[0-9]+)' ${bastille_jailsdir}/*/jail.conf; ifconfig -g epair) | grep -Eo "[0-9]+")" "${_epair_list}" | sort -u)"
     done
-    _epair_count="$(echo ${_epair_list} | wc -l | awk '{print $1}')"
+    _epair_count=$(printf '%s' "${_epair_list}" | wc -l | awk '{print $1}')
     export _epair_count
 }