diff --git a/etc/rc.d/bgfsck b/etc/rc.d/bgfsck
index 18468f5aa883..101577ef90ec 100755
--- a/etc/rc.d/bgfsck
+++ b/etc/rc.d/bgfsck
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ stop_cmd=":"
 bgfsck_start()
 {
 	if [ -z "${rc_force}" ]; then
-		background_fsck_delay=${background_fsck_delay:=0}
+		background_fsck_delay=${background_fsck_delay:-0}
 	else
 		background_fsck_delay=0
 	fi
diff --git a/etc/rc.d/named b/etc/rc.d/named
index 31743283d85c..587f4b2879ad 100755
--- a/etc/rc.d/named
+++ b/etc/rc.d/named
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ named_prestart()
 		warn 'named_pidfile: now determined from the conf file'
 	fi
 
-	command_args="-u ${named_uid:=root}"
+	command_args="-u ${named_uid:-root}"
 
 	if [ ! "$named_conf" = '/etc/namedb/named.conf' ]; then
 		case "$named_flags" in