diff --git a/src/freedombone-utils-firewall b/src/freedombone-utils-firewall
index 76ab5821..e1bd7697 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-utils-firewall
+++ b/src/freedombone-utils-firewall
@@ -385,8 +385,8 @@ function firewall_remove {
 
 function domain_to_hex_string {
     domain="$1"
-    ctr = 1
-    segment=$(echo "$domain" | awk -F '.' "{print \$$ctr}")
+    ctr=1
+    segment=$(echo "$domain" | awk -F '.' -v value="$ctr" '{print $value}')
     while [ ${#segment} -gt 0 ]
     do
         hexnum=$(echo "obase=16; $segment" | bc)
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ function domain_to_hex_string {
             echo -n "|$hexnum|$segment"
         fi
         ctr=$((ctr + 1))
-        segment=$(echo "$domain" | awk -F '.' "{print \$$ctr}")
+        segment=$(echo "$domain" | awk -F '.' -v value="$ctr" '{print $value}')
     done
     echo ""
 }