diff --git a/lib/grep.zsh b/lib/grep.zsh
index 61b8176d2..977435ee4 100644
--- a/lib/grep.zsh
+++ b/lib/grep.zsh
@@ -8,5 +8,6 @@ GREP_OPTIONS=
 for PATTERN in .cvs .git .hg .svn; do
     GREP_OPTIONS+="--exclude-dir=$PATTERN "
 done
-export GREP_OPTIONS+='--color=auto '
+GREP_OPTIONS+="--color=auto"
+export GREP_OPTIONS="$GREP_OPTIONS"
 export GREP_COLOR='1;32'