diff --git a/debian/bin/fix-shebang b/debian/bin/fix-shebang
index 44e775a76..edf551fa3 100755
--- a/debian/bin/fix-shebang
+++ b/debian/bin/fix-shebang
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 # Other uses of /usr/bin/env should probably be converted as well, but
 # policy doesn't specify what to do.
 if ($. == 1 && m|^\#!\s*/usr/bin/env\s+(.+)|) {
-    if ($1 == "perl") {
+    if ($1 eq "perl") {
 	$_ = "#!/usr/bin/perl\n";
     } else {
 	print STDERR "W: Found #!/usr/bin/env $1 and don't know what to substitute\n";