diff --git a/sunrise-commit b/sunrise-commit
index 8599d1a..cabb171 100755
--- a/sunrise-commit
+++ b/sunrise-commit
@@ -148,10 +148,10 @@ find_ebuilds() {
 		SC_ROOT=${category:+../}
 
 		# Replace with the filtered version, placing all atoms
-		# relative to SC_ROOT
+		# relative to SC_ROOT.
 		SC_CHANGE_LIST=
 		for pkg in ${SC_REMOVED_PACKAGE_LIST}; do
-			SC_CHANGE_LIST="${SC_CHANGE_LIST}${SC_CHANGE_LIST:+ }${SC_ROOT}${pkg}"
+			SC_CHANGE_LIST=${SC_CHANGE_LIST+${SC_CHANGE_LIST} }${SC_ROOT}${pkg}
 		done
 
 		local sdir