diff --git a/letsencrypt-auto-source/letsencrypt-auto b/letsencrypt-auto-source/letsencrypt-auto
index 08975492f..c177e400a 100755
--- a/letsencrypt-auto-source/letsencrypt-auto
+++ b/letsencrypt-auto-source/letsencrypt-auto
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ set -e  # Work even if somebody does "sh thisscript.sh".
 # Note: you can set XDG_DATA_HOME or VENV_PATH before running this script,
 # if you want to change where the virtual environment will be installed
 if [ -z "$XDG_DATA_HOME" ]; then
-  XDG_DATA_HOME="~/.local/share"
+  XDG_DATA_HOME=~/.local/share
 fi
 VENV_NAME="letsencrypt"
 if [ -z "$VENV_PATH" ]; then
diff --git a/letsencrypt-auto-source/letsencrypt-auto.template b/letsencrypt-auto-source/letsencrypt-auto.template
index d7c497260..a67d6b01b 100755
--- a/letsencrypt-auto-source/letsencrypt-auto.template
+++ b/letsencrypt-auto-source/letsencrypt-auto.template
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ set -e  # Work even if somebody does "sh thisscript.sh".
 # Note: you can set XDG_DATA_HOME or VENV_PATH before running this script,
 # if you want to change where the virtual environment will be installed
 if [ -z "$XDG_DATA_HOME" ]; then
-  XDG_DATA_HOME="~/.local/share"
+  XDG_DATA_HOME=~/.local/share
 fi
 VENV_NAME="letsencrypt"
 if [ -z "$VENV_PATH" ]; then