diff --git a/base-common/duneci-standard-test b/base-common/duneci-standard-test
index 2a93e6d6425bd86fd6735e498511a1a39260e882..9f4bf1d6781425a64826758b63646557be3a2a46 100755
--- a/base-common/duneci-standard-test
+++ b/base-common/duneci-standard-test
@@ -3,9 +3,8 @@
 set -e
 set -u
 
-if [[ -n "${DUNECI_OPTS:-/duneci/opts.gcc}" ]]; then
-  set -- --opts="${DUNECI_OPTS}" "${@}"
-fi
+: ${DUNECI_OPTS:=/duneci/opts.gcc}
+set -- --opts="${DUNECI_OPTS}" "${@}"
 
 DUNECONTROL=dunecontrol
 if [[ -x bin/dunecontrol ]]; then