diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index f430f5c52a..43aef72402 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 4.0-alpha5
+ * Fix tools/bin/fqltool for all shells (CASSANDRA-15820)
  * Fix clearing of legacy size_estimates (CASSANDRA-15776)
  * Update port when reconnecting to pre-4.0 SSL storage (CASSANDRA-15727)
  * Only calculate dynamicBadnessThreshold once per loop in DynamicEndpointSnitch (CASSANDRA-15798)
diff --git a/tools/bin/fqltool b/tools/bin/fqltool
index a34128ed83..dc49e50246 100755
--- a/tools/bin/fqltool
+++ b/tools/bin/fqltool
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ ARGS=""
 JVM_ARGS=""
 while true
 do
-  if [ ! $1 ]; then break; fi
+  if [ "x" = "x$1" ]; then break; fi
   case $1 in
     -D*)
       JVM_ARGS="$JVM_ARGS $1"