diff --git a/patches/systemvm/debian/config/etc/init.d/cloud-early-config b/patches/systemvm/debian/config/etc/init.d/cloud-early-config
index d2e668d5905..0dcd5710664 100755
--- a/patches/systemvm/debian/config/etc/init.d/cloud-early-config
+++ b/patches/systemvm/debian/config/etc/init.d/cloud-early-config
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ enable_irqbalance() {
   local enabled=$1
   local proc=0
 
-  $proc=$(cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep "processor" | wc -l)
+  proc=$(cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep "processor" | wc -l)
   if [ $proc -le 1 ]  && [ $enabled -eq 1 ]
   then
     enabled=0