diff --git a/packaging/deb/DEBIAN/prerm b/packaging/deb/DEBIAN/prerm
index 4953102842..65f261db2c 100644
--- a/packaging/deb/DEBIAN/prerm
+++ b/packaging/deb/DEBIAN/prerm
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-if [ $1 -eq "abort-upgrade" ]; then
+if [ "$1"x = "abort-upgrade"x ]; then
   exit 0
 fi