diff --git a/src/script/ant b/src/script/ant
index b5ed5be6a..4c1f7509b 100644
--- a/src/script/ant
+++ b/src/script/ant
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ else
     ant_sys_opts="-Djikes.class.path=\"$JIKESPATH\""
   fi
 fi
-ant_exec_command="exec \"$JAVACMD\" $ANT_OPTS -classpath \"$LOCALCLASSPATH\" -Dant.home=\"$ANT_HOME\" -Dant.library.dir=\"$ANT_LIB\" $ant_sys_opts org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher $ANT_ARGS -cp \"$CLASSPATH\""
+ant_exec_command="exec \"\$JAVACMD\" $ANT_OPTS -classpath \"\$LOCALCLASSPATH\" -Dant.home=\"\$ANT_HOME\" -Dant.library.dir=\"\$ANT_LIB\" $ant_sys_opts org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher $ANT_ARGS -cp \"\$CLASSPATH\""
 if $ant_exec_debug ; then
     echo $ant_exec_command $ant_exec_args
 fi