diff --git a/libexec/rc/rc.d/zfsbe b/libexec/rc/rc.d/zfsbe
--- a/libexec/rc/rc.d/zfsbe
+++ b/libexec/rc/rc.d/zfsbe
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@
 	_dev=$1
 	_be=${_dev##*/}
 
-	_bootonce="`kenv -q zfs-bootonce`"
+	_bootonce=$(kenv -q zfs-bootonce)
 	if [ "$_bootonce" = "zfs:${_dev}:" ] ; then
 		bectl activate $_be
 	fi