diff --git a/dist/images/kubectl-ko b/dist/images/kubectl-ko
index 94c7522c5a7..e25f944bd50 100755
--- a/dist/images/kubectl-ko
+++ b/dist/images/kubectl-ko
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ trace(){
 
   if [ "$type" != "arp" -o "$4" = "reply" ]; then
     # need destination mac
-    if [ -z "dstMac" ]; then
+    if [ -z "$dstMac" ]; then
       if ipIsInCidr $dst $cidr; then
         set +o pipefail
         if [ $af -eq 4 ]; then