diff --git a/ejabberdctl.template b/ejabberdctl.template
index eccaca26e..0376d4b57 100755
--- a/ejabberdctl.template
+++ b/ejabberdctl.template
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ case $ARGS in
     ' etop') etop;;
     ' started') wait_for_status 0 30 2;; # wait 30x2s before timeout
     ' stopped') wait_for_status 3 15 2 && stop_epmd;; # wait 15x2s before timeout
-    ' join_cluster '*) join_cluster ${ARGS/ join_cluster /};;
-    ' leave_cluster '*) leave_cluster ${ARGS/ leave_cluster /};;
+    ' join_cluster '*) join_cluster ${ARGS# join_cluster };;
+    ' leave_cluster '*) leave_cluster ${ARGS# leave_cluster };;
     *) ctl $ARGS;;
 esac