diff --git a/backups/mastodon_db_backup.sh b/backups/mastodon_db_backup.sh
index ddb4fc41e4f5bb6bb70b5f09268cc821ad49dd15..ef7995e45713d2484bac9ee964f6553359ee56a1 100644
--- a/backups/mastodon_db_backup.sh
+++ b/backups/mastodon_db_backup.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ backup() {
   local cname=$1
   local seqno="$(( $(date +%s) / 86400 % 2 ))"
   local link="db-backup.$seqno.sql.gz"
-  local file="db-backup.(date +%F_%R)-${cname}.sql.gz"
+  local file="db-backup.$(date +%F_%R)-${cname}.sql.gz"
 
   echo "Backing up $cname -> $file @ $(date +%F_%R)"