diff --git a/tools/utils.sh b/tools/utils.sh
index 93f45c5c..4cff511a 100644
--- a/tools/utils.sh
+++ b/tools/utils.sh
@@ -61,10 +61,11 @@ init_postgres_user() { # run as root
 
 # --- Ensure Unix user "scodoc" exists
 check_create_scodoc_user() {
-    if [ $(id -u "${SCODOC_USER}" &> /dev/null) ]
+    id -u "${SCODOC_USER}" &> /dev/null
+    if [ "$?" != 0 ]
     then
         echo "Creating unix user ${SCODOC_USER}"
-        adduser --no-create-home --shell /bin/bash --gecos "ScoDoc service" ${SCODOC_USER} || die "failed to create user"
+        adduser --no-create-home --shell /bin/bash --gecos "ScoDoc service" "${SCODOC_USER}" || die "failed to create user"
     else
         echo "Unix user ${SCODOC_USER} exists"
     fi