diff --git a/mythtv/files/mythorphans b/mythtv/files/mythorphans
index 07e573e..9d5ee70 100755
--- a/mythtv/files/mythorphans
+++ b/mythtv/files/mythorphans
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
 # read in configs
-MYTHVERSION="`rpm -q --queryformat='%{VERSION}\n' mythtv-docs`" || \
-    echo "mythtv-docs package not installed" 1>&2 ; exit 1
+MYTHVERSION="`rpm -q --queryformat='%{VERSION}\n' mythtv-docs`"
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+    echo "mythtv-docs package not installed" 1>&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 . /etc/mythtv/mysql.txt
 
 if [ -z "${LocalHostName}" ]; then