diff --git a/utilities/application.sh b/utilities/application.sh
index 71b0f19..5812c47 100644
--- a/utilities/application.sh
+++ b/utilities/application.sh
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ to launch a program in the container from the host with clean output)"
 _log_() {
 
     local log_message="${1-}"
-    if [ $log_to_stdout_enabled -eq 1 ]; then
+    if [ "${log_to_stdout_enabled}" -eq 1 ]; then
         echo "${log_message}"
     fi
     # Log to journald if available. This can help users troubleshoot issues when
@@ -65,8 +65,9 @@ _abort_() {
         exit_code=1
     fi
 
-    printf "\n[FATAL] ${error_message} - aborting with exit code ${exit_code}.\n" >&2
-    exit ${exit_code}
+    printf '\n[FATAL] %s - aborting with exit code %d.\n' \
+        "${error_message}" "${exit_code}" >&2
+    exit "${exit_code}"
 }
 
 # Runs a command.
diff --git a/utilities/podman.sh b/utilities/podman.sh
index fdc1d33..2b48e18 100644
--- a/utilities/podman.sh
+++ b/utilities/podman.sh
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ run_podman_in_background_and_log_to_file() {
     local command="${2}"
     shift 2
 
-    run_podman "${command}" ${@} &> "${log_file}" &
+    run_podman "${command}" "${@}" &> "${log_file}" &
 }
 
 # Queries the container status - stores result in global 'last_container_status' variable.