diff --git a/lib/ohcount/detector.rb b/lib/ohcount/detector.rb
index 0cb1b62e..08ae77ae 100644
--- a/lib/ohcount/detector.rb
+++ b/lib/ohcount/detector.rb
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@ def self.disambiguate_fortran(file_context)
 	#
   def self.disambiguate_nil(file_context)
     file_location = file_context.file_location
-    output = `file -b #{ file_location }`
+    output = `file -b '#{ file_location }'`
     case output
     when /([\w\/]+) script text/, /script text executable for ([\w\/]+)/
       script = $1