diff --git a/arch/mips/Makefile b/arch/mips/Makefile
index eede9b350803b230649c189b34ff16543025d107..9b4cb00407d7c468f607213f88dd729731a588be 100644
--- a/arch/mips/Makefile
+++ b/arch/mips/Makefile
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ LDFLAGS			+= -m $(ld-emul)
 ifdef CONFIG_MIPS
 CHECKFLAGS += $(shell $(CC) $(KBUILD_CFLAGS) -dM -E -xc /dev/null | \
 	egrep -vw '__GNUC_(|MINOR_|PATCHLEVEL_)_' | \
-	sed -e 's/^\#define /-D/' -e "s/ /='/" -e "s/$$/'/")
+	sed -e "s/^\#define /-D'/" -e "s/ /'='/" -e "s/$$/'/")
 ifdef CONFIG_64BIT
 CHECKFLAGS		+= -m64
 endif