diff --git a/skel/shutdown b/skel/shutdown
index 0f59623855bc8e8ad260eeeb57a090f88b26b5d1..b39f0f0decb9b8e27c65ba59b3891482f326a876 100755
--- a/skel/shutdown
+++ b/skel/shutdown
@@ -28,18 +28,18 @@ Time must be one of these formats: [ now | [+]mins | hh:mm ] where:
     mins or +mins : relative time; triggers the shutdown sequence after mins minutes.
     hh:mm : absolute time; triggers the shutdown sequence when the time hh:mm occurs.
 
-See also 66-shutdown program to more features.
+See also 66-shutdown program for more features.
 EOF
 exit 111
 }
 
 die() {
-    printf "${PROG}:fatal: options must be set first\n" >&1
+    printf "%s:fatal: options must be set first\n" "${PROG}" >&1
     usage
 }
 
-[ -z ${1} ] && die
+[ -z "${1}" ] && die
 
-[ ${1:0:1} != '-' ] && die
+[ "${1%%"${1#?}"}" != '-' ] && die
 
 66-shutdown "${@}"