diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index f2cc9ea3..4b9834a5 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ if platform.system() in ['Linux', 'FreeBSD', 'DragonFly']:
     if not os.access(opts.root_path + usr_share, os.W_OK) and \
        not os.access(opts.root_path, os.W_OK):
         if 'XDG_DATA_HOME' in os.environ.keys():
-            usr_share = os.environ['$XDG_DATA_HOME']
+            usr_share = os.environ['XDG_DATA_HOME']
         else:
             usr_share = os.path.expanduser('~/.local/share')
     data_files += [