diff --git a/util/build_prep/bootstrap_boost.sh b/util/build_prep/bootstrap_boost.sh
index bb4f7069..a95a4e6c 100755
--- a/util/build_prep/bootstrap_boost.sh
+++ b/util/build_prep/bootstrap_boost.sh
@@ -104,15 +104,15 @@ else
 	keepArchive='true'
 fi
 
-if [ -n  "${buildCArgs[*]}" ]; then
+if [ -n "${buildCArgs[*]}" ]; then
 	buildArgs+=(cflags="${buildCArgs[*]}")
 fi
 
-if [ -n  "${buildCXXArgs[*]}" ]; then
+if [ -n "${buildCXXArgs[*]}" ]; then
 	buildArgs+=(cxxflags="${buildCXXArgs[*]}")
 fi
 
-if [ -n  "${buildLDArgs[*]}" ]; then
+if [ -n "${buildLDArgs[*]}" ]; then
 	buildArgs+=(linkflags="${buildLDArgs[*]}")
 fi
 
diff --git a/util/build_prep/update-common b/util/build_prep/update-common
index 71e888e5..aa7c2730 100755
--- a/util/build_prep/update-common
+++ b/util/build_prep/update-common
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ for file in */prep.sh.in; do
 			# Print out the bootstrap_boost
 			print "function bootstrap_boost () {"
 			print "\t("
+			print "\t\tset +u"
 			print "\t\tmkdir -p \"${KEEP_AROUND_DIRECTORY}\" || exit 1"
 			print "\t\tcd \"${KEEP_AROUND_DIRECTORY}\" || exit 1"
 			while (getline <"bootstrap_boost.sh") {