diff --git a/xdg-utils/scripts/xdg-open.in b/xdg-utils/scripts/xdg-open.in
index 1ef2db9..dda661a 100644
--- a/xdg-utils/scripts/xdg-open.in
+++ b/xdg-utils/scripts/xdg-open.in
@@ -208,6 +208,8 @@ open_generic()
 
     IFS=":"
     for browser in $BROWSER; do
+	IFS_="${IFS}"
+	IFS=""
         if [ x"$browser" != x"" ]; then
 
             browser_with_arg=`printf "$browser" "$1" 2>/dev/null`
@@ -224,6 +226,7 @@ open_generic()
                 exit_success;
             fi
         fi
+	IFS="${IFS_}"
     done
 
     exit_failure_operation_impossible "no method available for opening '$1'"