diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/emacs/elpa.nix b/pkgs/build-support/emacs/elpa.nix
index 965b8d8189a..08257ff2542 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/emacs/elpa.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/emacs/elpa.nix
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import ./generic.nix { inherit lib stdenv emacs texinfo writeText gcc; } ({
 
     emacs --batch -Q -l ${./elpa2nix.el} \
         -f elpa2nix-install-package \
-        "${src}" "$out/share/emacs/site-lisp/elpa"
+        "$src" "$out/share/emacs/site-lisp/elpa"
 
     runHook postInstall
   '';