diff --git a/gravity-sync.sh b/gravity-sync.sh
index 31a2b15..f620ec6 100755
--- a/gravity-sync.sh
+++ b/gravity-sync.sh
@@ -591,7 +591,7 @@ function validate_os_sshpass {
 	echo_stat
 		if hash ssh 2>/dev/null
 		then
-		timeout 5 ${SSHPASSWORD} ${SSH_CMD} -p ${SSH_PORT} -i '$HOME/${SSH_PKIF}' -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no ${REMOTE_USER}@${REMOTE_HOST} 'exit' >/dev/null 2>&1
+		timeout 5 ${SSHPASSWORD} ${SSH_CMD} -p ${SSH_PORT} -i "$HOME/${SSH_PKIF}" -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no ${REMOTE_USER}@${REMOTE_HOST} 'exit' >/dev/null 2>&1
 			error_validate
 		elif hash dbclient 2>/dev/null
 		then