diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index 99017bfd4..e3284517b 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@
 
 # Only there to make jhbuild happy
 
-if [ -z $MESON ]; then
-	MESON=`which meson`
+if [ -z "$MESON" ]; then
+    MESON=$(which meson)
 fi
-if [ -z $MESON ]; then
+if [ -z "$MESON" ]; then
 	echo "error: Meson not found."
 	echo "Install meson to configure and build Pipewire. If meson" \
 	     "is already installed, set the environment variable MESON" \
diff --git a/check_missing_headers.sh b/check_missing_headers.sh
index 036ea137c..d1f66a523 100755
--- a/check_missing_headers.sh
+++ b/check_missing_headers.sh
@@ -5,19 +5,19 @@
 
 LIST=""
 
-for i in `find spa/include -name '*.h' | sed s#spa/include/##`;
+for i in $(find spa/include -name '*.h' | sed s#spa/include/##);
 do
-	[ -f $PREFIX/include/spa-0.2/$i ] || LIST="$i $LIST"
+	[ -f "$PREFIX/include/spa-0.2/$i" ] || LIST="$i $LIST"
 done
 
-for i in `find src/extensions -name '*.h' | sed s#src/#pipewire/#`;
+for i in $(find src/extensions -name '*.h' | sed s#src/#pipewire/#);
 do
-	[ -f $PREFIX/include/pipewire-0.3/$i ] || LIST="$i $LIST"
+	[ -f "$PREFIX/include/pipewire-0.3/$i" ] || LIST="$i $LIST"
 done
 
-for i in `find src/pipewire -name '*.h' -a -not -name '*private.h' | sed s#src/##`;
+for i in $(find src/pipewire -name '*.h' -a -not -name '*private.h' | sed s#src/##);
 do
-	[ -f $PREFIX/include/pipewire-0.3/$i ] || LIST="$i $LIST"
+	[ -f "$PREFIX/include/pipewire-0.3/$i" ] || LIST="$i $LIST"
 done
 
 for i in $LIST;
diff --git a/pw-uninstalled.sh b/pw-uninstalled.sh
index 2f6eb350c..a462dcc24 100755
--- a/pw-uninstalled.sh
+++ b/pw-uninstalled.sh
@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@ while getopts ":b:v:" opt; do
 			;;
 		\?)
 			echo "Invalid option: -${OPTARG}"
-			exit -1
+			exit 1
 			;;
 		:)
 			echo "Option -${OPTARG} requires an argument"
-			exit -1
+			exit 1
 			;;
 	esac
 done
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@ if [ -z "${BUILDDIR}" ]; then
 	echo "Using default build directory: ${BUILDDIR}"
 fi
 
-if [ ! -d ${BUILDDIR} ]; then
+if [ ! -d "${BUILDDIR}" ]; then
 	echo "Invalid build directory: ${BUILDDIR}"
-	exit -1
+	exit 1
 fi
 
 # the config file read by the daemon