diff --git a/scripts/qemu-guest-agent/fsfreeze-hook b/scripts/qemu-guest-agent/fsfreeze-hook
index 5b915af017..6e2d7588af 100755
--- a/scripts/qemu-guest-agent/fsfreeze-hook
+++ b/scripts/qemu-guest-agent/fsfreeze-hook
@@ -24,15 +24,14 @@ USE_SYSLOG=0
 # if log file is not writable, fallback to syslog
 [ ! -w "$LOGFILE" ] && USE_SYSLOG=1
 # try to update log file and fallback to syslog if it fails
-touch "$LOGFILE" &>/dev/null || USE_SYSLOG=1
+touch "$LOGFILE" >/dev/null 2>&1 || USE_SYSLOG=1
 
 # Ensure the log file is writable, fallback to syslog if not
 log_message() {
-    local message="$1"
     if [ "$USE_SYSLOG" -eq 0 ]; then
-        printf "%s: %s\n" "$(date)" "$message" >>"$LOGFILE"
+        printf "%s: %s\n" "$(date)" "$1" >>"$LOGFILE"
     else
-        logger -t qemu-ga-freeze-hook "$message"
+        logger -t qemu-ga-freeze-hook "$1"
     fi
 }
 
@@ -43,7 +42,7 @@ for file in "$FSFREEZE_D"/* ; do
     is_ignored_file "$file" && continue
     [ -x "$file" ] || continue
 
-    log_message "Executing $file $@"
+    log_message "Executing $file $*"
     if [ "$USE_SYSLOG" -eq 0 ]; then
         "$file" "$@" >>"$LOGFILE" 2>&1
         STATUS=$?
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ for file in "$FSFREEZE_D"/* ; do
         STATUS=${PIPESTATUS[0]}
     fi
 
-    if [ $STATUS -ne 0 ]; then
+    if [ "$STATUS" -ne 0 ]; then
         log_message "Error: $file finished with status=$STATUS"
     else
         log_message "$file finished successfully"