diff --git a/init/eessi_environment_variables b/init/eessi_environment_variables
index 60d69cc198..125f3e5a93 100644
--- a/init/eessi_environment_variables
+++ b/init/eessi_environment_variables
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ function error() {
 function show_msg {
   # only echo msg if EESSI_SILENT is unset
   msg=$1
-  if [[ -z ${EESSI_SILENT+x} ]]; then
+  if [[ -z ${EESSI_SILENT:+x} ]]; then
     echo "$msg"
   fi
 }