diff --git a/git-send-email.perl b/git-send-email.perl
index 1218bbe729..1bf090a881 100755
--- a/git-send-email.perl
+++ b/git-send-email.perl
@@ -864,7 +864,7 @@ sub sanitize_address {
 	my ($recipient_name, $recipient_addr) = ($recipient =~ /^(.*?)\s*(<.*)/);
 
 	if (not $recipient_name) {
-		return "$recipient";
+		return $recipient;
 	}
 
 	# if recipient_name is already quoted, do nothing