diff --git a/bin/package b/bin/package
index 06d9184cd..0b0420a11 100755
--- a/bin/package
+++ b/bin/package
@@ -2401,7 +2401,7 @@ int main()
 			esac
 			case $lhs in
 			bsdi)			lhs=bsd ;;
-			darwin)			case $(/usr/bin/cc --version) in
+			darwin)			case `/usr/bin/cc --version` in
 						*'(GCC)'*)	case $rel in
 								[0-9].*|10.*)	lhs=darwin07 ;;
 								*)		lhs=darwin11 ;;
diff --git a/src/cmd/INIT/package.sh b/src/cmd/INIT/package.sh
index c4c228433..c30391ccc 100644
--- a/src/cmd/INIT/package.sh
+++ b/src/cmd/INIT/package.sh
@@ -2400,7 +2400,7 @@ int main()
 			esac
 			case $lhs in
 			bsdi)			lhs=bsd ;;
-			darwin)			case $(/usr/bin/cc --version) in
+			darwin)			case `/usr/bin/cc --version` in
 						*'(GCC)'*)	case $rel in
 								[0-9].*|10.*)	lhs=darwin07 ;;
 								*)		lhs=darwin11 ;;