diff --git a/bot/build.sh b/bot/build.sh
index 29444a32c2..f6e7565590 100755
--- a/bot/build.sh
+++ b/bot/build.sh
@@ -115,7 +115,8 @@ mkdir -p ${SINGULARITY_TMPDIR}
 
 # load modules if LOAD_MODULES is not empty
 if [[ ! -z ${LOAD_MODULES} ]]; then
-    for mod in $(echo ${LOAD_MODULES} | tr ',' '\n')
+    IFS=',' read -r -a modules <<< "$(echo "${LOAD_MODULES}")"
+    for mod in "${modules[@]}";
     do
         echo "bot/build.sh: loading module '${mod}'"
         module load ${mod}
diff --git a/bot/test.sh b/bot/test.sh
index 464c4817a9..fd6c4de040 100755
--- a/bot/test.sh
+++ b/bot/test.sh
@@ -135,7 +135,8 @@ mkdir -p ${SINGULARITY_TMPDIR}
 
 # load modules if LOAD_MODULES is not empty
 if [[ ! -z ${LOAD_MODULES} ]]; then
-    for mod in $(echo ${LOAD_MODULES} | tr ',' '\n')
+    IFS=',' read -r -a modules <<< "$(echo "${LOAD_MODULES}")"
+    for mod in "${modules[@]}";
     do
         echo "bot/test.sh: loading module '${mod}'"
         module load ${mod}