diff --git a/package/postgresql/postgresql.mk b/package/postgresql/postgresql.mk
index 2bad6b4d05..e710e928d9 100644
--- a/package/postgresql/postgresql.mk
+++ b/package/postgresql/postgresql.mk
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ POSTGRESQL_DEPENDENCIES += tzdata
 POSTGRESQL_CONF_OPTS += --with-system-tzdata=/usr/share/zoneinfo
 else
 POSTGRESQL_DEPENDENCIES += host-zic
-POSTGRESQL_CONF_ENV += ZIC=$$(ZIC)
+POSTGRESQL_CONF_ENV += ZIC="$(ZIC)"
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_OPENSSL),y)