diff --git a/src/universal/bin/sbt-launch-lib.bash b/src/universal/bin/sbt-launch-lib.bash
index 47bed1748..621ae125e 100755
--- a/src/universal/bin/sbt-launch-lib.bash
+++ b/src/universal/bin/sbt-launch-lib.bash
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ process_args () {
                  export PATH="$2/bin:$PATH" &&
                  shift 2 ;;
 
-            -D*) addJava "$1" && shift ;;
+          "-D*") addJava "$1" && shift ;;
             -J*) addJava "${1:2}" && shift ;;
               *) addResidual "$1" && shift ;;
     esac