diff --git a/scripts/build b/scripts/build
index 3ea6308e7b..39c8e27819 100755
--- a/scripts/build
+++ b/scripts/build
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ function build_canister() {
     echo Running cargo build "${cargo_build_args[@]}"
     echo RUSTFLAGS: "$RUSTFLAGS"
 
-    [ -n "$II_OPENID_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID" ] && export II_OPENID_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID
+    [ -n "${II_OPENID_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID:-}" ] && export II_OPENID_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID
 
     RUSTFLAGS="$RUSTFLAGS" cargo build "${cargo_build_args[@]}"