diff --git a/internal/parser.zsh b/internal/parser.zsh
index a0e5e58e..dc2082de 100644
--- a/internal/parser.zsh
+++ b/internal/parser.zsh
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ function _p9k_parse_buffer() {
         if [[ $token == $~var ]]; then
           n=${${token##[^[:IDENT:]]}%%[^[:IDENT:]]}
           [[ $token == *'"' ]] && v=("${(P)n}") || v=(${(P)n})
-          tokens[1,0]=(${(qq)v})
+          tokens[1,0]=(${(@qq)v})
           continue
         fi
       fi