1 files changed, 3 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/bin/hstow b/bin/hstow
index 21cbeca6..311fce2a 100755
--- a/bin/hstow
+++ b/bin/hstow
@@ -43,9 +43,10 @@ if ! command -v readlink >/dev/null; then
 	# We want the ninth field onwards in awk's sense --
 	# i.e. collapsing multiple runs of blanks between the first nine
 	# fields -- but we mustn't collapse blanks from there onwards.
+	n=$((3 + $(echo "$1" | wc -m)))
 	ls -ld "$1" \
-	   | sed -E 's/^[[:blank:]]*([^[:blank:]]+[[:blank:]]+){8}.{'$((
-		    3 + $(echo "$1" | wc -m)))'}//'
+	    | sed -E \
+		  "s/^[[:blank:]]*([^[:blank:]]+[[:blank:]]+){8}.{$n}//"
     }
 fi