diff --git a/package/neardal/neardal.mk b/package/neardal/neardal.mk
index c65a5e6169..ddaecbeb12 100644
--- a/package/neardal/neardal.mk
+++ b/package/neardal/neardal.mk
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ endif
 # forgets to take that into account, causing the detection to fail
 # when linking statically
 ifeq ($(BR2_STATIC_LIBS),y)
-NEARDAL_CONF_ENV += LIBS=$(shell $(PKG_CONFIG_HOST_BINARY) --libs ncurses)
+NEARDAL_CONF_ENV += LIBS='$(shell $(PKG_CONFIG_HOST_BINARY) --libs ncurses)'
 endif
 
 define NEARDAL_INSTALL_NCL