diff --git a/include/functions b/include/functions
index 8ddb94c2..d3b01a55 100644
--- a/include/functions
+++ b/include/functions
@@ -716,24 +716,24 @@
             LogText "Result: unclear if we can read this file, as this is a symlink"
             ReportException "FileIsReadable" "Can not determine symlink ${sFILE}"
           elif [ -d ${sFILE} ]; then
-            OTHERPERMS=`ls -d -l ${sFILE} | cut -c 8`
+            OTHERPERMS=$(ls -d -l ${sFILE} | cut -c 8)
           elif [ -f ${sFILE} ]; then
-            OTHERPERMS=`ls -d -l ${sFILE} | cut -c 8`
+            OTHERPERMS=$(ls -d -l ${sFILE} | cut -c 8)
           else
             OTHERPERMS="-"
         fi
 
         # Also check if we are the actual owner of the file (use -d to get directory itself, if its a directory)
-        FILEOWNER=`ls -dln ${sFILE} | awk -F" " '{ print $3 }'`
+        FILEOWNER=$(ls -dln ${sFILE} | awk -F" " '{ print $3 }')
         if [ "${FILEOWNER}" = "${MYID}" ]; then
             LogText "Result: file is owned by our current user ID (${MYID}), checking if it is readable"
             if [ -L ${sFILE} ]; then
                 LogText "Result: unclear if we can read this file, as this is a symlink"
                 ReportException "FileIsReadable" "Can not determine symlink ${sFILE}"
             elif [ -d ${sFILE} ]; then
-                OTHERPERMS=`ls -d -l ${sFILE} | cut -c 2`
+                OTHERPERMS=$(ls -d -l ${sFILE} | cut -c 2)
             elif [ -f ${sFILE} ]; then
-                OTHERPERMS=`ls -d -l ${sFILE} | cut -c 2`
+                OTHERPERMS=$(ls -d -l ${sFILE} | cut -c 2)
             fi
           else
             LogText "Result: file is not owned by current user ID (${MYID}), but UID ${FILEOWNER}"