diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index 8aa45cee559b6cc57879a64dfb569e12e15c4b0c..6d6223247df4df45414b311966dab8eaf99d7bae 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ override_dh_pysupport:
 	: # Move scikits. space into a compatibility package
 	find debian -wholename \*scikits -type d | while read skd; do \
 		skbd=$$(dirname $$skd); \
-		skbd_=$${skbd//sklearn/scikits-learn}; \
+		skbd_=$$(echo $$skbd | sed -e 's/sklearn/scikits-learn/g'); \
 		mkdir -p $$skbd_; \
 		mv $$skd $$skbd_; \
 	done