diff --git a/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/nvtype.c b/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/nvtype.c
index 0a5c0693d..b8c6aaece 100644
--- a/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/nvtype.c
+++ b/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/nvtype.c
@@ -1473,7 +1473,7 @@ int	sh_outtype(Sfio_t *out)
 	{
 		if(nv_isnull(tp) || !nv_isvtree(tp))
 			continue;
-		if(indent && (memcmp(tp->nvname,sh.prefix,n-1) || tp->nvname[n-1]!='.' || strchr(tp->nvname+n,'.')))
+		if(indent && (strncmp(tp->nvname,sh.prefix,n-1) || tp->nvname[n-1]!='.' || strchr(tp->nvname+n,'.')))
 			continue;
 		nv_settype(L_ARGNOD,tp,0);
 		if(indent)