diff --git a/distro/rpm/knot.spec b/distro/rpm/knot.spec
index 4d4831021287427f44f3883120689e5811897df5..7b8c8ef344572531922f424df61adbecad8f36ff 100644
--- a/distro/rpm/knot.spec
+++ b/distro/rpm/knot.spec
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 %define GPG_CHECK 0
 %define VERSION __VERSION__
-%define BASE_VERSION %(echo %{version} | sed 's/^\([^.]\+\.[^.]\+\).*/\1/')
+%define BASE_VERSION %(echo "%{version}" | sed 's/^\\([^.]\\+\\.[^.]\\+\\).*/\\1/')
 %define repodir %{_builddir}/%{name}-%{version}
 
 Summary:	High-performance authoritative DNS server