diff --git a/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm ls-remote b/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm ls-remote
index 683fe927cb5..bb1ac944653 100755
--- a/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm ls-remote	
+++ b/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm ls-remote	
@@ -6,14 +6,14 @@ die () { echo "$@" ; cleanup ; exit 1; }
 
 cleanup() {
   unset -f nvm_download nvm_ls_remote nvm_ls_remote_iojs
-  if [ -n TEMP_NVM_COLORS ]; then
+  if [ -n "${TEMP_NVM_COLORS-}" ]; then
     export NVM_COLORS=TEMP_NVM_COLORS
   fi
   unset TEMP_NVM_COLORS
 }
 
 \. ../../../nvm.sh
-if [ -n ${NVM_COLORS} ]; then
+if [ -n "${NVM_COLORS-}" ]; then
   export TEMP_NVM_COLORS=NVM_COLORS
   unset NVM_COLORS
 fi