diff --git a/.maint/update_authors.py b/.maint/update_authors.py
index 05b16dc0..fa4a0760 100755
--- a/.maint/update_authors.py
+++ b/.maint/update_authors.py
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ def get_git_lines(fname='line-contributors.txt'):
 
     git_line_summary_path = shutil.which('git-line-summary')
     if not git_line_summary_path:
-        git_line_summary_path = "git summary --dedup-by-email".split(" ")
+        git_line_summary_path = 'git summary --dedup-by-email'.split(' ')
     else:
         git_line_summary_path = [git_line_summary_path]