diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index c24474da24..9bfee853ac 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -840,7 +840,7 @@ esac],
 [USE_PROFILING=no]) dnl Default value
 
 dnl default to building registry in the source tree if we are enabling plugin build dir
-if test "x$PLUGINS_USE_BUILDDIR" = xyes; then
+if test "x$PLUGINS_USE_BUILDDIR"="xyes"; then
   GST_CONFIG_DIR=$builddir
 else
   GST_CONFIG_DIR=/etc/gstreamer