diff --git a/bin/zod.template b/bin/zod.template
index 0602f1e..3b94e31 100644
--- a/bin/zod.template
+++ b/bin/zod.template
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
 
 zod_lib=ZODLIB_PATH
 
-proj=$1
-target=$2
+proj="$1"
+target="$2"
 
 _zod_error() {
   echo -e ">>> ERROR: $*" >&2
@@ -21,4 +21,4 @@ find "$proj" -type f \
               ! -name "*.layout" \
               ! -name "*.meta" \
               ! -name "helpers.awk" \
-              -exec zod_render $zod_lib $proj $target {} \;
+              -exec zod_render "$zod_lib" "$proj" "$target" {} \;
diff --git a/bin/zod_render b/bin/zod_render
index aae5266..011fbc7 100755
--- a/bin/zod_render
+++ b/bin/zod_render
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@
 # render a zodiac page
 # used internally by zod (uses file as single argument)
 
-zod_lib=$1
-proj=$2
-target=$3
-f=$4
+zod_lib="$1"
+proj="$2"
+target="$3"
+f="$4"
 
 markdown_filter_cmd="awk -f $zod_lib/markdown.awk"