diff --git a/matrix/synapse_db.container b/matrix/synapse_db.container
index a1bbf28..b5a8bf8 100644
--- a/matrix/synapse_db.container
+++ b/matrix/synapse_db.container
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ AutoUpdate=registry
 # pass this to attach it to container
 Environment=POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
 Environment=POSTGRES_USER=${POSTGRES_USER}
-Environment=POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS=--encoding=UTF-8 --lc-collate=C --lc-ctype=C
+Environment=POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS='--encoding=UTF-8 --lc-collate=C --lc-ctype=C'
 
 Volume=%h/podman/matrix/database:/var/lib/postgresql/data