diff --git a/bin/cassandra b/bin/cassandra
index c15a46a22d..8d7b14fa7b 100755
--- a/bin/cassandra
+++ b/bin/cassandra
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ while true; do
 done
 
 # see CASSANDRA-7254
-"$JAVA" -cp $CLASSPATH $JVM_OPTS 2>&1 | grep -q 'Error: Exception thrown by the agent : java.lang.NullPointerException'
+"$JAVA" -cp "$CLASSPATH" $JVM_OPTS 2>&1 | grep -q 'Error: Exception thrown by the agent : java.lang.NullPointerException'
 if [ $? -ne "1" ]; then 
     echo Unable to bind JMX, is Cassandra already running?
     exit 1;
diff --git a/bin/sstableupgrade b/bin/sstableupgrade
index c972d5409c..91fa4225f4 100755
--- a/bin/sstableupgrade
+++ b/bin/sstableupgrade
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ else
     JAVA=`which java`
 fi
 
-if [ -z $CLASSPATH ]; then
+if [ -z "$CLASSPATH" ]; then
     echo "You must set the CLASSPATH var" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ if [ "x$MAX_HEAP_SIZE" = "x" ]; then
     MAX_HEAP_SIZE="256M"
 fi
 
-$JAVA $JAVA_AGENT -ea -cp $CLASSPATH $JVM_OPTS -Xmx$MAX_HEAP_SIZE \
+"$JAVA" $JAVA_AGENT -ea -cp "$CLASSPATH" $JVM_OPTS -Xmx$MAX_HEAP_SIZE \
         -Dcassandra.storagedir="$cassandra_storagedir" \
         -Dlogback.configurationFile=logback-tools.xml \
         org.apache.cassandra.tools.StandaloneUpgrader "$@"
diff --git a/examples/hadoop_cql3_word_count/bin/word_count b/examples/hadoop_cql3_word_count/bin/word_count
index 974a39aed3..76cca7da53 100755
--- a/examples/hadoop_cql3_word_count/bin/word_count
+++ b/examples/hadoop_cql3_word_count/bin/word_count
@@ -59,4 +59,4 @@ OUTPUT_REDUCER=cassandra
 INPUT_MAPPER=native
 
 #echo $CLASSPATH
-$JAVA -Xmx1G -ea -cp $CLASSPATH WordCount output_reducer=$OUTPUT_REDUCER input_mapper=$INPUT_MAPPER
+"$JAVA" -Xmx1G -ea -cp "$CLASSPATH" WordCount output_reducer=$OUTPUT_REDUCER input_mapper=$INPUT_MAPPER
diff --git a/examples/hadoop_cql3_word_count/bin/word_count_counters b/examples/hadoop_cql3_word_count/bin/word_count_counters
index 52ea2e5f6f..cc1243fcac 100755
--- a/examples/hadoop_cql3_word_count/bin/word_count_counters
+++ b/examples/hadoop_cql3_word_count/bin/word_count_counters
@@ -58,4 +58,4 @@ fi
 INPUT_MAPPER=native
 
 #echo $CLASSPATH
-$JAVA -Xmx1G -ea -cp $CLASSPATH WordCountCounters input_mapper=$INPUT_MAPPER
+"$JAVA" -Xmx1G -ea -cp "$CLASSPATH" WordCountCounters input_mapper=$INPUT_MAPPER
diff --git a/examples/hadoop_cql3_word_count/bin/word_count_setup b/examples/hadoop_cql3_word_count/bin/word_count_setup
index d194a452b4..6e5650fd85 100755
--- a/examples/hadoop_cql3_word_count/bin/word_count_setup
+++ b/examples/hadoop_cql3_word_count/bin/word_count_setup
@@ -58,4 +58,4 @@ HOST=localhost
 PORT=9160
 FRAMED=true
 
-$JAVA -Xmx1G -ea -Dcassandra.host=$HOST -Dcassandra.port=$PORT -Dcassandra.framed=$FRAMED -cp $CLASSPATH WordCountSetup
+"$JAVA" -Xmx1G -ea -Dcassandra.host=$HOST -Dcassandra.port=$PORT -Dcassandra.framed=$FRAMED -cp "$CLASSPATH" WordCountSetup
diff --git a/examples/hadoop_word_count/bin/word_count b/examples/hadoop_word_count/bin/word_count
index a0c5aa02f1..34534d7221 100755
--- a/examples/hadoop_word_count/bin/word_count
+++ b/examples/hadoop_word_count/bin/word_count
@@ -58,4 +58,4 @@ fi
 OUTPUT_REDUCER=cassandra
 
 #echo $CLASSPATH
-$JAVA -Xmx1G -ea -cp $CLASSPATH WordCount output_reducer=$OUTPUT_REDUCER
+"$JAVA" -Xmx1G -ea -cp "$CLASSPATH" WordCount output_reducer=$OUTPUT_REDUCER
diff --git a/examples/hadoop_word_count/bin/word_count_counters b/examples/hadoop_word_count/bin/word_count_counters
index 58c398c069..122565d15e 100755
--- a/examples/hadoop_word_count/bin/word_count_counters
+++ b/examples/hadoop_word_count/bin/word_count_counters
@@ -56,4 +56,4 @@ if [ "x$JAVA" = "x" ]; then
 fi
 
 #echo $CLASSPATH
-$JAVA -Xmx1G -ea -cp $CLASSPATH WordCountCounters
+"$JAVA" -Xmx1G -ea -cp "$CLASSPATH" WordCountCounters
diff --git a/examples/hadoop_word_count/bin/word_count_setup b/examples/hadoop_word_count/bin/word_count_setup
index d194a452b4..6e5650fd85 100755
--- a/examples/hadoop_word_count/bin/word_count_setup
+++ b/examples/hadoop_word_count/bin/word_count_setup
@@ -58,4 +58,4 @@ HOST=localhost
 PORT=9160
 FRAMED=true
 
-$JAVA -Xmx1G -ea -Dcassandra.host=$HOST -Dcassandra.port=$PORT -Dcassandra.framed=$FRAMED -cp $CLASSPATH WordCountSetup
+"$JAVA" -Xmx1G -ea -Dcassandra.host=$HOST -Dcassandra.port=$PORT -Dcassandra.framed=$FRAMED -cp "$CLASSPATH" WordCountSetup
diff --git a/tools/bin/cassandra-stress b/tools/bin/cassandra-stress
index 53440ac11b..14fbd09867 100755
--- a/tools/bin/cassandra-stress
+++ b/tools/bin/cassandra-stress
@@ -42,6 +42,6 @@ if [ "x$JAVA" = "x" ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-$JAVA -server -ea -cp "$CLASSPATH" \
+"$JAVA" -server -ea -cp "$CLASSPATH" \
       -Dcassandra.storagedir="$cassandra_storagedir" \
       org.apache.cassandra.stress.Stress $@
diff --git a/tools/bin/cassandra-stressd b/tools/bin/cassandra-stressd
index 6532707ffd..50dedee7f5 100755
--- a/tools/bin/cassandra-stressd
+++ b/tools/bin/cassandra-stressd
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ fi
 case "$1" in
   start)
     echo "Starting $DESC: "
-    $JAVA -server -cp $CLASSPATH \
+    "$JAVA" -server -cp "$CLASSPATH" \
           -Dcassandra.storagedir="$cassandra_storagedir" \
           org.apache.cassandra.stress.StressServer $@ 1> ./stressd.out.log 2> ./stressd.err.log &
     echo $! > ./stressd.pid
diff --git a/tools/bin/sstablelevelreset b/tools/bin/sstablelevelreset
index 497d6048a2..1756a21b72 100755
--- a/tools/bin/sstablelevelreset
+++ b/tools/bin/sstablelevelreset
@@ -39,12 +39,12 @@ else
     JAVA=`which java`
 fi
 
-if [ -z $CLASSPATH ]; then
+if [ -z "$CLASSPATH" ]; then
     echo "You must set the CLASSPATH var" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 
-$JAVA -cp $CLASSPATH  -Dstorage-config=$CASSANDRA_CONF \
+"$JAVA" -cp "$CLASSPATH"  -Dstorage-config=$CASSANDRA_CONF \
         -Dcassandra.storagedir="$cassandra_storagedir" \
         -Dlogback.configurationFile=logback-tools.xml \
         org.apache.cassandra.tools.SSTableLevelResetter "$@"
diff --git a/tools/bin/sstablemetadata b/tools/bin/sstablemetadata
index f2377930de..c5ff832de5 100755
--- a/tools/bin/sstablemetadata
+++ b/tools/bin/sstablemetadata
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ if [ -z "$CLASSPATH" ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-$JAVA -cp $CLASSPATH \
+"$JAVA" -cp "$CLASSPATH" \
         -Dcassandra.storagedir="$cassandra_storagedir" \
         -Dlogback.configurationFile=logback-tools.xml \
         org.apache.cassandra.tools.SSTableMetadataViewer "$@"
diff --git a/tools/bin/sstablesplit b/tools/bin/sstablesplit
index 1775c650ed..51da481f16 100755
--- a/tools/bin/sstablesplit
+++ b/tools/bin/sstablesplit
@@ -38,12 +38,12 @@ else
     JAVA=`which java`
 fi
 
-if [ -z $CLASSPATH ]; then
+if [ -z "$CLASSPATH" ]; then
     echo "You must set the CLASSPATH var" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 
-$JAVA $JAVA_AGENT -ea -cp $CLASSPATH $JVM_OPTS -Xmx256M \
+"$JAVA" $JAVA_AGENT -ea -cp "$CLASSPATH" $JVM_OPTS -Xmx256M \
         -Dcassandra.storagedir="$cassandra_storagedir" \
         -Dlogback.configurationFile=logback-tools.xml \
         org.apache.cassandra.tools.StandaloneSplitter "$@"