diff --git a/src/frontend/inpcom.c b/src/frontend/inpcom.c
index 6e1ee728b..b75dc6c90 100644
--- a/src/frontend/inpcom.c
+++ b/src/frontend/inpcom.c
@@ -3727,8 +3727,6 @@ inp_sort_params(struct line *param_cards, struct line *card_bf_start, struct lin
             max_level = deps[i].level;
     }
 
-    inp_quote_params(s_c, e_c, deps, num_params);
-
     c = card_bf_start;
     tail = c->li_next;
 
@@ -3748,6 +3746,8 @@ inp_sort_params(struct line *param_cards, struct line *card_bf_start, struct lin
         controlled_exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
+    inp_quote_params(s_c, e_c, deps, num_params);
+
     // clean up memory
     for (i = 0; i < arr_size; i++) {
         tfree(deps[i].param_name);