diff --git a/ejabberdctl.template b/ejabberdctl.template

index a30dabcaa..b420e92b0 100755

--- a/ejabberdctl.template

+++ b/ejabberdctl.template

@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ if [ -n "$INET_DIST_INTERFACE" ] ; then

 fi

 # if vm.args file exists in config directory, pass it to Erlang VM

 [ -f "$VMARGS" ] && ERLANG_OPTS="$ERLANG_OPTS -args_file $VMARGS"

-ERL_LIBS={{libdir}}

+ERL_LIBS="@ERL_LIBS@{{libdir}}"

 ERL_CRASH_DUMP="$LOGS_DIR"/erl_crash_$(date "+%Y%m%d-%H%M%S").dump

 ERL_INETRC="$ETC_DIR"/inetrc